Five dead in car crash at crowded Christmas market in Germany [att

Five dead  in car  crash at crowded Christmas market in Germany

The driver involved in the  attack was arrested, while the authorities called the incident an  assault.
A police officer stands in front of decorations  at a German Christmas market involved in an apparent  attack.
At least five people  were killed and  around 200 injured after a car  crashed into a crowded Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, capital of the central state of  Saxony-Anhalt.
Governor Reiner Haseloff  said on Saturday  that the preliminary death toll had risen from two to  five, as many more  people were seriously  injured.
Authorities late Friday described the incident as  a deliberate attack and  said the driver  was arrested at the scene. An investigation is  underway.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among many  to offer condolences  shortly after the incident. His office  said he would  visit the scene on  Saturday.
"Reports from Magdeburg suggest  that something terrible has happened. My thoughts are with the victims and their  families," Scholz wrote on the social media platform  X. "We stand  with them and the people of Magdeburg.  I thank the dedicated  rescuers in these anxious  hours."
A police officer in tactical gear in Magdeburg speaks  to a man  riding a  bicycle after  an alleged attack on a Christmas  market. A police officer speaks  to a man outside a  cordoned off area after a suspected attack in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
The  Interior Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old  Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006. He was previously unknown to security  services. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.  "The Kingdom  reaffirms its position  of rejecting violence and expresses its  condolences and sincere  sympathies to the families of the  victims and to the Federal Republic of  Germany," it said in a  statement.
Another German state official,  Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff, told local  media that one of the  victims was a child and the other an adult. He added that he could not say whether there would be  other victims as a result of the  alleged attack.
"This is  just speculation  at this point. "Every human life that  was lost in this attack is a terrible tragedy and one  too many human  lives," Haseloff told  reporters. He said  authorities currently believe the suspect in custody  is the sole perpetrator  of the  drive-by attack.
"As far as we know, this is a  single perpetrator, so as far as we know, there is no further danger to the  city," Haseloff told  reporters.
Of the injured, 15 were identified as being in critical condition, according to the  city's website. Another 37 people  were moderately injured and 16  slightly injured.
Local media  reported that the car involved was seen driving at high  speed before  plowing into the crowd  around 7 p.m. local time  (6 a.m. GMT). A police officer blocks a road near the scene of a suspected attack  at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on December  20.
Christmas markets are a tradition  that dates back to the Middle Ages in German-speaking parts of Europe. In Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000  people, the market was set up in a town square, with stalls selling regional  produce and  drinks. "It's a terrible tragedy. This is a  disaster for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for  Germany in general," Haseloff said.  "It's really one of the worst things  you can imagine,  especially in  relation to what a Christmas market should  bring."
Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane, who was at the scene of  the alleged attack on Friday, said the Christmas market  was reportedly particularly busy when the car  was hit. "It's the last Friday before  Christmas." "It's a tradition  throughout Germany that Christmas markets are  the places people  go, especially on Friday  nights," he  said.
Kane added that media reports suggested  that Saudi authorities had  alerted their German counterparts to the  suspect's presence before the attack.
Police searched his home after the  incident for explosives or other incriminating  materials, but  found no other evidence. The suspect's  alleged use of a rental car could provide investigators  with a way to learn more about his actions  before the  attack. "Obviously there will be a record of when  and where the car was picked up and what  documents were used to get the car in the first place.  Those are all lines of inquiry," Kane  said.
The attack  comes at a particularly sensitive time for German  politics, with Scholz  losing a confidence vote in parliament earlier this week, triggering  a snap federal  election scheduled for  Feb. 23.
Kane said the incident was likely to play  to the  advantage of the far-right  anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has gained ground in recent  regional elections.
The alleged attack  on Friday night also comes eight years after a similar  attack in the German  capital, Berlin, on  Dec. 19,  2016. In this case, a Tunisian suspect, Anis Amri,  24, intentionally drove a truck into a Christmas market in a  large public square,  Breitscheidplatz.
Twelve people were killed in  the attack and  no fewer than 56 were  injured. Amri was eventually killed in a shootout in  Milan after fleeing to  Italy.
Raphael Bossong, a senior  fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, speculated that the two incidents  are likely  to be  linked, although it is too early to  speculate.
"Unfortunately, it is a very sad  anniversary and  I am sure  that the perpetrator chose this  event for  this purpose, to  evoke that memory," Bossong told Al Jazeera shortly after the news  broke. He added that  Friday's alleged attack  could have political repercussions in  Germany.
"We are entering an election  period and the German debate is already very  polarized around these  migration issues," Bossong explained.  "I'm sure this will only add fuel to the fire, as sad as it  is."
In particular, security  measures, both  in the market and  on site, should be closely scrutinized.
"All Christmas markets and all these facilities in general  are now supposed to be  traffic-free, in the sense that no  cars or trucks can enter them," Bossong told Al Jazeera.  "The authorities  should probably give an explanation."
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon  Musk, an increasingly prominent figure on the far  right, has  already taken advantage of the attack to call for Chancellor  Scholz to resign.
"Scholz must resign  immediately," he wrote in a comment on his social media  platform.
Earlier today, Musk announced  that he would  support the AfD party in  the upcoming  elections in Germany. "Only the AfD can save  Germany," he  wrote, expressing his support.