The Strasbourg-Alsace Christmas Market in New York City before the pandemic
An automobile driven by a Saudi citizen plowed through a Christkindlmarkt, or Christmas market, in Magdeburg, Germany Friday evening, killing five and injuring at least 205 people, 41 critically.
Located on the Elbe River, Magdeburg is the capital of Sachsen-Anhalt.
The Minister-Präsident of Sachsen-Anhalt, Reiner Hasleoff, told reporters that the driver of the vehicle was Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Al-Abdulmohsen ploughed 400 m (1,312’) through the crowded market in an attack that lasted approximately three minutes. He was driving a black BMW rental auto.
Those who had not been injured in the attack rendered first aid to the injured until emergency services personnel arrived. Bystanders described a chaotic scene with blood everywhere.
Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight he saw “blood on the floor” as well as “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries.”
The dead include four adults and a nine-year-old boy.
Magdeburg’s Christmas market dates back to a late medieval sales fair, which gave the people of Magdeburg the opportunity to stock up on food before winter. It became a staple before Christmas in the early 20th century.
This was not the first truck or vehicular attack at a major Christmas market in Europe.
On the evening of December 11, 29-year-old Chérif Chekatt launched an attack at the Strasbourg Christkindelsmärik, one of Europe’s most historic Christmas markets. Using a revolver and a knife, he killed five people and wounded an additional 13, before fleeing in a taxi. He was later killed in a shootout with police.
The incident put the entire country on high alert and a massive manhunt is underway for the shooter.
On December 16, 2016, a truck driven by Anis Amri plowed through a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany Monday evening, killing 12 and injuring an additional 50 people. The truck was eventually stopped by its automatic braking system. One of the victims was Łukasz Urban, the trucks original driver. Nearly five years after the attack, a man who was critically injured during the attack died from complications relating to his wounds. The Islamic State of Iran and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a video showing Amri pledging allegiance to its leader.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
