Magdeburg begins early dismantling of Christmas market due to terrorist attack

The early dismantling of the Christmas market, whose visitors were killed or injured in a hit-and-run accident, has begun in the German city of Magdeburg. This was reported by the newspaper Bild on Friday, December 27.

A week after the terrorist attack, sellers and employees of the fair began to dismantle the stalls and attractions, which were closed after the incident.

The publication noted that even concrete blocks did not stop the hit-and-run perpetrator and the event will need a new security concept next year.

What happened in Magdeburg: a car drove into the crowd at the Christmas fair

There are dead and wounded

In the evening on Friday, December 20, a car crashed into a crowd of people at the fair in Magdeburg. In addition to the five dead, more than 200 people were injured, many hospitalized in extremely serious condition. Authorities are treating what happened as a terrorist attack.

Soon the suspect was detained - a native of Saudi Arabia born in 1974, he was arrested. Information about the presence of an explosive device in his car was not confirmed, but there was found a will. It was also reported that the man had drugs in his blood. He explained his actions by the poor treatment of refugees from his country by the German authorities.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev expressed their condolences to the families of the victims.

Scholz visited the site of the tragedy on December 21 and stated the importance of investigating the terrorist attack. At the same time, he and Interior Minister Nancy Feather were booed in Magdeburg, and residents of the city criticized the government's policy in a conversation with Izvestia.