German Christmas market car attack – latest: Five dead and hundreds injured

US president Joe Biden said his team has been “in close touch” with German officials following the attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg.

A nine-year-old child is among the five people who have died following the attack in Magdeburg, authorities said on Saturday.

City official Ronni Krug said he did not have further information on the adults who were killed on Friday night.

A further 200 people were injured, of whom 41 were seriously or very seriously hurt, Mr Krug said.

An expert in German terrorism has expressed surprise at the profile emerging of the suspect in the attack in Magdeburg.

“After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore,” said Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King’s College London.

“But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists – that really wasn’t on my radar.”

Several German media outlets identified the suspect as a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy who has been who has been living in Germany for nearly two decades and practising medicine there.

Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect has shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticising the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.

He also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he said was the “Islamism of Europe”. Some described him as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. He has also voiced support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum-seekers.

Prosecutors expect to charge the suspect with murder and attempted murder, the head of the local prosecutor’s office has said.

The motive for the attack remains unclear but the suspect’s dissatisfaction with Germany’s treatment of Saudi refugees may have played a role, the prosecutor in the central city of Magdeburg told a press conference.

The suspect is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who first came to Germany in 2006, authorities confirmed.

He has been named by German media as Taleb A and has reportedly shown support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.

A Saudi source told Reuters that the kingdom had warned German authorities about the attacker, who the source said had posted extremist views on his personal X account.

He was recognised as a refugee in 2016 and is a consultant for psychiatry and psychotherapy in the nearby town of Bernburg.

Interior minister Nancy Faeser told reporters on Saturday: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic — we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”

The vehicle, a black BMW, was pictured smashed up at the scene behind a police cordon. Officials believe the suspect acted alone. Verified bystander footage showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road.

“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Haseloff, said at a news conference.

German public broadcaster MDR previously reported that police suspected there could be explosives in the suspect’s car, but police later confirmed none were found after closer inspection.

Tragedy struck at a Christmas market in eastern Germany on Friday, as at least five people and hundreds were injured after a car ploughed into a crowd.

The market in Magdeburg will remain closed, the city’s mayor confirmed – though others around Germany will remain open.

The Frankfurt Christmas market is still going ahead, though the security procedures have been “slightly adjusted”, German media was told.

The city’s mayor said: “I heard the news from Magdeburg with horror. Our thoughts and our sympathy are with the victims and their families, who have suffered so much as a result of this cruel act. An attack like this hits a city to the core.”

The chairman of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has arrived at the scene and laid flowers in tribute to the victims of last night’s attack.

Tino Chrupalla and his colleagues laid flowers amid reports that the suspected attacker was a supporter of the political party.

Local media reported that he had expressed his sympathy for the party on social media, though a spokesman for the party told the Rheinische Post that he was not a member of the party.

The clinic where the suspect is believed to have worked has released a statement following Friday night’s attack.

Posting on Instagram, the Salus-Fachklinikum Bernburg clinic said it was “shocked to learn that the alleged perpetrator worked as a specialist doctor in our enforcement in Bernburg”.

It added that the suspect had been employed there as a psychiatric specialist since March 2020, but he had not been working since October due to illness and holiday.

“We have been supporting the work of the investigative authorities in every possible way since the late hours,” it added.

Authorities confirmed that a child is among the dead, while local media reported on Saturday that 41 people are very seriously injured.

A 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia was arrested on Friday following the attack:

Here’s everything we know about the attack so far: