A tragic vehicle-ramming attack occurred this evening at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to at least 60 others.
The incident happened at approximately 7:04 PM local time, when a black BMW rental car sped through a crowded market area, continuing for over 400 metres before coming to a stop.
The driver, who has been arrested, reportedly rented the vehicle shortly before the attack. German authorities have described the incident as “probably an attack,” and an investigation is ongoing. Police cordoned off the scene after an explosive device was reportedly discovered in the car.
The driver, a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia, was apprehended at the Allee-Center tram station shortly after the attack. No further details regarding the suspect’s motives or affiliations have been confirmed by officials at this time.
Magdeburg’s local government confirmed that at least two people were killed, with injury reports varying between 60 and 80 individuals. Emergency services reported that 15 victims sustained severe injuries, while 37 were moderately injured, and 16 sustained minor injuries. Twenty of the injured were transported to Magdeburg University Hospital for treatment.
Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, described the incident as a “terrible event” and travelled to the city to assess the situation. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his condolences and praised the efforts of emergency responders. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other political leaders also extended their support to the victims and their families.
The attack occurred during the bustling holiday season in Magdeburg, which hosts a popular Christmas market near the city hall and a major shopping centre. This tragic event coincided with the eighth anniversary of a similar attack in Berlin, where a truck was driven into a Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.
As investigations continue, questions remain about the motivations behind the attack and the need for enhanced security at public events in Germany and beyond.
Starting to feel almost like a Christmas tradition is an attack on a Christmas market. And if it is a 50 year old Saudi doctor who’s been in Germany since 2006, as is being reported, then it’s not a case of simply blaming refugees or illegal migrants. But it is certainly sad that Europe’s broadly welcoming stance over the years has been rewarded with pointless deaths of many innocent people, many of which have been children.
But then again, as per the recent similar event in China, it could just be someone who was unhappy with their divorce and was so insane they drove a car into innocent strangers as if that would somehow help or make them feel better.
Merry Christmas one and all. Well, nearly all.
Our militaries are supposed to keep those with malicious intentions and dangerous political ideologies out of countries. In the last few decades we have invited many people into our countries who have little loyalty or respect for the things we hold dear. They don’t respect those that serve in our military because they don’t believe in the values that they’ve vowed to defend (as evidenced by some direct terrorist attacks on military personnel), and would themselves never serve this country. In fact it was reported a few years ago that there were more British muslims fighting with ISIS and its affiliates in Iraq and Syria than there were in the British armed forces. It’s now got to the point that a military is partially redundant, because many of our most dangerous enemies are already within our borders. Whilst I believe there are many young people that do still do want to serve, the prospect is becoming less attractive, because it’s not clear what military’s mission is anymore; what exactly are we defending? The values of the elite liberal classes have diverged massively from the (primarily white) working classes who make up the bulk of the military.
It’s time for our political leaders to stop pandering for votes and actually confront the root cause i.e. that we have been far too tolerant of religious extremism for fear of being called racist etc. I’m no fan of Starmer, but I have been pleasantly surprised by his admissions on immigration, and the increase in deportations etc. Maybe he is looking at other elections around the western world (and realising that his own election in the UK was a bit of a fluke due to the electorate shifting further right, thus splitting the right wing vote); and can see the writing is on the wall for him unless he gets a grip of immigration and the associated issues. Time will tell.
“I have been pleasantly surprised by his admissions on immigration, and the increase in deportations etc”
Meaningless.
No I would not say it’s the job of our military to do that, our military are there to deter wars and fight wars, not do homeland boarder security and policing. It’s the job of SIS, MI5 , police, boarder force and GCHQ.
Yes.
Just religious extremism?
MI5 reports that by volume the 3 largest sources of terror plots are Islamic, far-right, and Northern Irish extremism. All of these need to be countered.