Saudi man arrested after deadly car attack on German Christmas market
Saudi Arabia has expressed "solidarity" with Germany after a Saudi national was arrested following a deadly car-ramming attack in a Christmas market.
In the city of Magdeburg, located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Berlin, the black BMW barreled through the crowd at high speed just after 7:00 pm local time on Friday when the market was filled with revelers.
Video footage showed the driver's arrest as police with their handguns trained shouted "lie down, hands on your back, don't move!" at the bearded man who was lying on the ground next to the heavily damaged car.
Police said the vehicle drove "at least 400 meters across the Christmas market" leaving a trail of bloodied casualties, debris and broken glass at the city's central town hall square.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Friday on social media platform X expressed "solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims."
It "affirmed its rejection of violence."
Authorities said at least two people were killed, including a child, and 68 injured.
The suspect is a 50-year-old medical doctor living in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, said authorities.
"We have arrested the perpetrator, a man from Saudi Arabia, a doctor who has been in Germany since 2006," authorities told reporters, calling the attack a "catastrophe" for the city and the country.
"From what we currently know he was a lone attacker so we don't think there is any further danger."
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Around 60-80 people have been injured after a car was driven into a Christmas market in Germany.
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German media partially named the suspect as Taleb A.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that "the reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears."
"My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has condemned the "brutal and cowardly act" in Magdeburg.
In a statement on X, the German politician said that her thoughts were "with the victims".
"My condolences go out to the family and friends, my thanks to the police and rescue workers," she said. "This act of violence must be investigated and severely punished."
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