In the central German city of Magdeburg, people and emergency services are coming together to lay flowers for those who lost their lives in Friday night's attack.

Earlier, Olaf Scholz also has laid a white rose.

A memorial service is expected to be held in the city's cathedral on Saturday evening.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Questions may arise about Germany's security systempublished at 12:35 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2024

12:35 GMT 21 December 2024

Jessica Parker
Berlin correspondent

The priority will be to piece together how and why last night’s attack happened, and for the people of Magdeburg and Germany to mourn the lives lost.

But this tragedy may also, in time, raise fresh questions about Germany’s security architecture. For example, each German state runs its own domestic intelligence service - the Verfassungsschutz.

It’s a highly federalised system and therefore, critics have argued, highly fragmented.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken out after Friday's attacks in Magdeburg, saying, "violence must not prevail anywhere."

"We are all shocked by the terrible reports of the horrific attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, while German doctors are fighting for the lives of the injured," he says.

Zelensky adds that "it is crucial that all circumstances and motives of the attacker are fully clarified".

"We stand with the people of Magdeburg and all Germans on this dark day. Stay strong, dear German friends," his statement concludes.

Image source, AXEL SCHMIDT

Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, says the gap that allowed the attacker to access the market must be "explored and rectified".

"No car should come close, let alone be on a Christmas market," he tells the BBC News channel.

"There has to have been a gap that no one realised needed to be closed," Schindler adds.

Reports suggest there was a tramline running alongside the market, meaning there was no barrier to allow the tram to pass, leaving a gap to access the markets, Schindler tells the programme.

"This gap, and why it was there, and how the car got there, this needs to be explored and rectified," he says.

For context, there were concrete blocks around the Magdeburg Christmas markets to prevent such events. But the attack indicates that there was a gap large enough for a car to enter.

As mentioned earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vows to investigate the incident and says that the attacker must be punished.

At the moment, what we know about the suspect who was arrested is that he is 50 years old. He's from Saudi Arabia but has lived in Germany since 2006 and worked as a doctor.

So far, it appears he acted alone.

We'll bring you more updates as soon as we confirm more information.

We've just brought you lines from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Reiner Haseloff, state premier of Saxony-Anhalt.

Here are some key takeaways from their press conference a few moments ago:

• The death toll has increased to five. More than 200 others are injured
• Haseloff said it is "astonishing, unimaginable, that something like this could happen in Germany"
• He thanked emergency workers for "outstanding work", and hopes there will not be further fatalities
• Olaf Sholz described the attack as a "dreadful tragedy," adding that Christmas markets are usually a "joyful place"
• The government will provide support for those who need it, he said
• The attack will be investigated "in depth" Scholz added, but said it's important that "we stand united"

Scholz ends his press conference by thanking people around the world for expresing the solidarity with Magdeburg.

"It is very positive to hear that Germany is not alone," he says.

He thanks emergency services and says he stands in solidarity with those injured and the families of people killed.

Moving now to the suspect in the attack, who was arrested after the incident last night, Scholz says that it is important "that we investigate in detail with great precision what has happened."

He says authorities will be investigating the perpetrator "in depth".

The chancellor says it's important that "we stand united".

"We should not allow those who wish to sow hate to do so," he adds.

Scholz says Germany will provide support those who have been affected by the attack, including those who helped the victims.

He says it has been very moving to speak to the first responders.

Addressing reporters, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that "normally a Christmas market is a very peaceful and joyful place... what a dreadful tragedy it is that so many people were injured and killed with such brutality in a place like that."

He says there is concern about the health of people who are critically injured.

He expresses his sympathy to those injured and the families of those killed.

"I'd like to express the solidarity of the entire country."

Haseloff thanks emergency services for their response, and says hospitals are doing "outstanding work".

"We hope very much there will not be any more fatalities," he tells the news conference.

He says that conversations will come in the days ahead about security, but that today is about "mourning."

Haseloff says he has visited the scene, describing it as "a place which will always be linked to the history of Magdeburg now."

"It will become a site of commemoration," he says, "that is really dreadful."

It is "astonishing, unimaginable, that something like this could happen in Germany," Haseloff adds.

This morning they had a cabinet meeting and addressed the financial resources they would need to make available to support the "victims and their loved ones."

Five people have been killed in the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Reiner Haseloff, state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, tells reporters.

More than 200 people were injured.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz is about to speak in Magdeburg, after the attack that has left at least four people dead and over 200 injured.

You can listen to him live by clicking on Watch live at the top of the page.

Berlin's interior minister, Iris Spranger, says they've boosted police presence at the city's Christmas markets after the attack in Magdeburg.

In a post on X, she says that "the security authorities are in close contact with each other".

She also notes that Berlin's fire service helped last night with "post-operation care and psychosocial emergency care".

In 2016, a truck was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens of others.

Image source, Reuters

We're waiting for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to speak. In the meantime, let's bring you a reaction from Italy's Prime Minister.

Giorgia Meloni says she expresses her "utmost solidarity with the German people, the entire German people".

Speaking to reporters, she adds: "It's not the first time this has happened - it's not the first time this has happened around Christmas.

"This is an issue we have been dealing with for years. We must be careful about how we manage our policies, including how we ensure the safety of our citizens."

Image source, Reuters

Olaf Scholz has just laid a white rose at the site of a memorial set up near where the attack happened.

He's added to the many flowers already there, located at St John's Church.

Image source, Reuters

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Magdeburg. He was just seen walking through the Christmas markets where the attack occurred last night.

We'll bring you updates as soon as he speaks.

The death toll from the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market has now risen to four, according to German public-service broadcaster ARD.

ARD is also reporting that over 200 people have been injured, a significant increase from the earlier figure of over 60.

Among them, 41 are critically injured, 90 seriously injured, and more than 80 slightly injured, ARD reports.

Magdeburg's city councillor for public order, Ronni Krug, says the Christmas market will stay closed and that "Christmas in Magdeburg is over", according to German public broadcaster MDR.

The interior ministry also announced this morning that official buildings in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Magdeburg is the state capital, will now fly flags at half-mast in honour of those killed in the attack.