What happened in Magdeburg: a car drove into the crowd at the Christmas fair
In the evening of December 20, it became known about a tragic incident in the German city of Magdeburg. On the territory of the Christmas fair, the driver directed the car into a crowd of people. According to the Prime Minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, two people were killed, dozens injured. Information is being updated. More about the incident - in the material "Izvestia".
Incident in Magdeburg: what is known, dead and wounded
In the evening of December 20, German media reported that in the city of Magdeburg, located about 150 km south-west of Berlin, there was a car collision with visitors to the Christmas fair. In panic, people began to scatter.
Information about the victims is contradictory. According to the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Rainer Haseloff.two people were killed, including a young child. Later there were reports that 60 to 80 people were injured. Rescue workers are working at the scene.
According to German media, the driver drove about 400 meters through the crowd.
According to known information at the time of the article, the driver directed the car at fairgoers. The city authorities asked residents and visitors of Magdeburg to avoid its center.
City spokesman Marcel Reif also reported that many people were injured.
"The fire department and police are on duty at the site and are treating the injured. <...> The pictures are horrible. As far as I know, a car drove into Christmas fair visitors, but from which side and how far, I can't say yet," he said.
According to the DPA news agency, some 20 injured people are already being treated at the university hospital in Magdeburg.
"We are preparing to receive more people," a spokesman for the clinic said.
Whether explosives have been found
At the moment it is known that the market area has been sealed off and investigators are checking it for explosives.
"Police are searching the cordoned off area of the Christmas market for explosives," German newspaper Bild reported, citing sources.
Reaction to what happened in Magdeburg
The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Rainer Haseloff, has already reacted to the incident, he headed to the scene.
"This is a terrible event, especially in the days before Christmas," German media reports Rainer Haseloff's words.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who called the incident a "terrorist attack," have already expressed their condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.
"I would like to express my deepest condolences to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the people of Germany for the horrific terrorist attack at the Christmas fair in Magdeburg. We pray for the families of the victims," Orban wrote on social network X (blocked in Russia).
"The pictures from Magdeburg are horrible! My thoughts are with the mourners and victims. When will this madness end?" - Alice Weidel, the Alternative for Germany (AdG) candidate for chancellor of the FRG, reacted.
The Russian embassy in Germany has already opened a hotline. There is no information about the injured Russians at the moment.
Svetlana Pogorelskaya, a senior researcher at the Institute of Scientific Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also shared her reaction to the incident in her Telegram channel.
"Another attack on the Christmas market, this time in Magdeburg. And this is despite the fact that this year they were especially guarded by the police and had to be protected. Ideally, after a similar attack on the Berlin Christmas market in 2016, there should be barriers around to block cars from entering. But in reality, the opportunities to drive up, if not into the center, then on the side approaches to any market were and remain," she wrote.
She noted that the car flew right into the market area, into the through pedestrian street between the food and booze stalls, full, raced down it, left the market, and then, according to eyewitnesses, tried to run over people walking nearby on the pedestrian zone.
"Before the elections - I think now even more residents from the east of the country will vote for the AdG," the expert believes.
What is known about the driver
The alleged driver of the vehicle has been detained. According to German media, it is a native of Saudi Arabia.
According to the agency Welt, before committing the crime, the man rented a car, on which he then went to the Christmas market. A bag of luggage was found on the passenger seat. Authorities and police have not confirmed what was in it, but have not ruled out the possibility of an explosive device. Police are also checking whether the driver acted alone.
Christmas fair in Magdeburg
According to German media, the fair was located in the Old Market area next to the city's town hall near the Elbe. A large shopping center is also located next to it.
