An attack with a car at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has caused one death, according to police sources cited by the public broadcaster MDR, and dozens of injured, authorities report cited by the German and local press. The driver is detained. His identity, the reasons for the attack and whether there have been more deaths are unknown for now.
The diary Bild reports that at least 20 people have been injured. The Magdeburg police have closed the Christmas market, in the center of this eastern German city, and have launched a “wide deployment” of security forces in the area.
“This is a horrible event, especially in the days before Christmas,” declared the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, reports MDR.
According to eyewitnesses cited by the local newspaper Magdeburger Volkszeitungthe car rammed into the market, swerving to run over as many people as possible, until the police stopped it, causing scenes of panic.
The incident has brought to light the worst memories of the largest jihadist attack that Berlin has ever suffered, another massive attack at a busy Christmas market that left 13 dead. On December 19, 2016, the Islamist terrorist Anis Amri rammed a truck into people who were at the flea market on the popular Breitscheidplatz square, next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, near the Berlin Zoo. 13 people died in the attack.
Twelve people were killed and more than 60 injured. The 13th victim succumbed to his serious injuries in October 2021. The victims came from Germany, Poland, Israel, Italy, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. The terrorist managed to escape at first, which led to a strong police operation. Four days later, on December 23, 2016, Amri was killed in Milan in a shootout with police.
In the last decade, different European cities have suffered terrorist attacks in which the driver of a vehicle ran over pedestrians. In 2016, a truck ran over and killed 85 people on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice during the celebrations of July 14, the French national holiday. The self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
On the night of June 3, 2017, a van ran over twenty pedestrians next to London Bridge. After the accident, the three occupants continued driving to the nearby Borough gastronomic market, got out of the vehicle and stabbed several people. The police shot them down. The attack left eight dead, including a Spaniard, and more than 40 injured.
A few months later, tragedy shook Spain. Another massive accident caused death on Barcelona’s Ramblas and the Cambrils promenade on August 17 and 18, 2017. The attacks left 16 dead and 180 injured.
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