Child, 9, among five killed in German Christmas market attack
German police had been repeatedly warned that a Saudi doctor who is suspected of ploughing a car into crowds at a Magdeburg[1] Christmas market posed a terror threat.
Saudi Arabia's government sent four warnings to German authorities over the extreme views of Taleb al Abdulmohsen[2], a former Muslim who posted of his plans to do "something big" on social media.
On Friday night, a man killed at least five people and wounded more than 200 by driving his BMW full speed down a narrow alley in the market. Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
A nine-year-old child was among those killed, police said in a press conference on Saturday.
Local Magdeburg officials said the suspect was able to drive to the area as a gap had been left in security bollards for emergency vehicles.
Abdulmohsen fled Saudi Arabia for Germany in 2006. He was granted asylum as he feared persecution over his rejection of Islam.
German authorities said on Saturday that a potential motivation for the attack was his belief that Berlin was mistreating Saudi refugees.
A still from the scene shows the moment a car ploughed into crowds of people at Magdeburg Christmas market
On social media, Abdulmohsen repeatedly condemned the "Islamisation" of Europe and expressed support for the far-Right AfD, alongside Elon Musk and conspiracist Alex Jones. Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Nancy Faeser, Germany's interior minister, said the suspect was a known "Islamophobe". According to the BBC, the Saudi government sent four "note verbale" warnings to Berlin over the doctor, who worked as a psychiatrist in the town of Bernburg just south of Magdeburg.
Three were sent to police and one to the foreign ministry.
In December 2023, police received a separate complaint after Abdulmohsen threatened on social media to make Germany "pay a price" for its alleged persecution of Saudi refugees.
Local and federal police investigated but concluded that he posed "no specific danger," the German newspaper Die Welt reported, citing security sources.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Visiting the market on Saturday, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said it was a "terrible act... to injure and kill so many people with such brutality."
"Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them," he said.
Emergency responders are photographed at the scene of the attack in Magdeburg - Getty
Prosecutor Horst Nopen said the suspect, who was detained at the scene, "has at least talked about the motive.
And we have to clear up how much of that is true".
Abdulmohsen was granted asylum in Germany in 2016 despite having a criminal record over public order offences committed three years earlier.
Abdulmohsen was well known in the Saudi diaspora for running a website helping refugees flee the Middle East. Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
But he was considered a "pariah" because of his paranoid and aggrandising behaviour.
Speaking on a US podcast just eight days before the attack, he said Germany was persecuting Saudi former Muslims and "actively trying to destroy their lives".
He said the persecution was being conducted covertly by a "Gestapo-like police unit" and was taking place across the globe.
Taha Al-Hajji, legal director of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, said: "He is a psychologically disturbed person with an exaggerated sense of self-importance."
People gather to light candles and lay flowers in tribute to those who were injured or killed in the attack - Reuters/Christian Mang
Saudi Arabia said in a statement that it condemned the attack[3] and expressed its "solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims. Advertisement Advertisement
Jorg Lau, a well-known columnist for liberal newspaper Die Zeit, said that the attack was "an echo" of Norwegian neo-Nazi Anders Breivik and was part of a "global threat" posed by far-Right terrorism.
Alice Weidel, leader of the hard-Right AfD, said that "staggering failures by the authorities made the horror of Magdeburg possible".
The party has organised a protest in Magdeburg for Monday.
Viktor Orban, the Right-wing prime minister of Hungary, told a press conference in Budapest "there is no doubt that there is a link" between the terror attack and immigration.
Greta, 65, a retired historian, told the Telegraph as she quietly sobbed beside the Old Market entrance on Saturday: "This is our hometown, this attack has struck us right in the heart." Advertisement Advertisement
She continued: "It was a form of pure hatred to do this, and we must confront that hatred," adding that migration "has been too much and too fast, I would have preferred it if it had been done in a more regulated way and with more planning".
"I fear that we have lost our cultural identity in Magdeburg," she said.
Germany is set to hold a snap election on Feb 23.
Front-runner Friedrich Merz, of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has promised much stricter limits on asylum and called for mass migration to be viewed as a "national emergency".
05:39 PM GMT
That's all for now
Thank you for following our live coverage. This live blog is now closed.
05:34 PM GMT
Biden: attack a 'despicable and dark event'
US President Joe Biden has called the attack a "despicable and dark event" and said that Washington was in contact with German officials. Advertisement
Advertisement
"The United States extends our deepest condolences to the people of Germany grieving the terrible attack," Biden said in a statement. "No community - and no family - should have to endure such a despicable and dark event, especially just days before a holiday of joy and peace."
05:32 PM GMT
Opposition accuse security services of 'ignoring' threat posed by killer
Several opposition politicians have said that the police could have stopped Friday's deadly rampage but did not take complaints seriously enough.
Alice Weidel, leader of the hard-Right AfD said that "staggering failures by the authorities made the horror of Magdeburg possible."
"While politicians deploy the security apparatus against the opposition and government critics, there is a lack of resources to defend against real threats," she claimed. Advertisement Advertisement
Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the small left-wing BSW party, said that the government would need to answer questions over "why so many tips and warnings were ignored in advance."
Police have confirmed that they considered including Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen on a "dangerous persons" list and held a conversation with him.
A newspaper report on Saturday suggested that they decided not to put him on the list, which is used to monitor political extremists, because he did not pose a "concrete danger."
Saudi Arabia also reportedly warned Germany about the suspect, who was a fierce critic of his home county's government.
05:14 PM GMT
Scholz 'flees from angry mob' at Christmas market
Chancellor Olaf Scholz left the scene of the attack in a hurry after a group of around 250 people gathered who booed at him and his ministers and called them "murderers," according to a journalist for Bild newspaper who was at the scene.
Advertisement Advertisement
A line of police officers shielded Mr Scholz and two of his ministers, interior ministers Nancy Faeser and Justice Minister Volker Wissing, from the crowd.
The crowd shouted "get lost" and the politicians left the scene under police sirens, the newspaper reported.
04:48 PM GMT
Orban: attack was 'terror' and EU wants it to happen to Hungary too
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims and has described the attack as a "terrorist act."
Speaking to the press in Budapest, he said that "there is no doubt that there is a link" between migration and terrorism, and claimed that the EU leadership "wants Magdeburg to happen to Hungary too."
Orban's anti-immigrant government has taken a hard line on people entering Hungary since 2015, and has built fences protected by razor wire on Hungary's southern borders with Serbia and Croatia.
04:40 PM GMT
Injured victims being treated in 15 different hospitals
Doctors in hospitals far beyond Magedburg are treating the wounded, with some 41 people still in a critical or severely critical condition.
City authorities have said that victims are being treated in 15 hospitals some of which are in different states, including in Brandenburg, a state to the northeast that surrounds Berlin.
04:33 PM GMT
All church bells in city to ring at 7.04pm
The protestant church in Magdeburg has said that all the city's churches will ring ther bells this evening to mark the minute when they attack took place on Friday evening.
A special service of mourning is going to take place in the city cathedral this evening. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany's president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, are set to attend.
04:20 PM GMT
Pictures: mourners pay respects at site of tragedy
Two women pay tributes and cry outside St. John's Church near the Christmas Market where the attack took place.
Reuters
A woman holds a candle as people leave floral tributes to the victims near the site of the attack./ Reuters
Plush toys, candles and floral tributes lie near the site of the attack/ Reuters
A woman pets a dog as people leave floral tributes to the victims near the site of the attack. Reuters
04:06 PM GMT
Left and Right seize upon killer's unusual past
With the killer's background and potential motives so unusual, both the German Left and Right are seeking to fit the crime into their own narratives.
The suspect is a Saudi man who was given asylum in 2016 despite having a criminal record.
He is also a fierce critic of Islam.
Jorg Lau, a well known columnist for liberal newspaper Die Zeit, said that the attack was "an echo" of Norwegian neo-Nazi Anders Breivik and was part of a "global threat" posed by the far-Right terrorism.
The hard-Right AfD have organised a protest in Magdeburg for Monday and are seeking to portray the attack as the latest in a line of violence by asylum seekers, similar to an Isis attack on a street festival in the city of Solingen in the summer.
03:46 PM GMT
Attacker acted out of 'dissatisfaction,' says prosecutor
Also at the press conference, prosecutor Horst Nopes has said that: "As things stand at the moment, the motive could have been dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi Arabian refugees in Germany."
He has at least talked about the motive," Nopens said. "And we have to clear up how much of that is true."
As we reported earlier in the blog (post at 2.45pm), the suspect was convinced that German authorities were persecuting Saudi nationals who had left the Muslim faith.
03:42 PM GMT
Killer used escape routes to enter Christmas market
Local authorities in Magdeburg are giving a press conference. The main theme has been how the killer was able to drive his car past a security perimeter.
A police official said that the killer exploited the fact that gaps had been left in the perimeter to allow for ambulances to get in and out.
City officials have said that gaps between bollards were there as an escape route for emergency services but that they were guarded by the police.
"I think our security concept is good because it was coordinated," said Ronni Krug, a spokesperson for the city hall. "The case we are now discussing here is one that we could not have anticipated in terms of its dimensions and that perhaps could not have been prevented."
Questions had been raised after the attack about why there were such big gaps between bollards at entrances to the Christmas market.
03:16 PM GMT
Suspect granted asylum despite criminal record
Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen was granted asylum in Germany in 2016 based on a claim that he would face persecution on religious grounds in his home country of Saudi Arabia.
But he already had a criminal conviction at the time. In 2013 a German court sentenced him to a fine a public order offence.
He had "threatened to carry out crimes," according to a record of the trial seen by Der Spiegel.
The level of the fine - EUR900 - suggests that he was living of state welfare at the time, the news outlet reports.
He originally came to Germany in 2006 to study medicine.
03:06 PM GMT
Witness describes hours-long effort to help victims
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a manicurist from Vietnam whose salon is located in a mall across from the Christmas market, has told of how her husband spent hours trying to help victims.
She was on the phone during a break when she heard loud bangs and thought at first they were fireworks, she told news agency AP.
She then saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.
Shaking as she described the horror of what she witnessed, she recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee Street and then coming to a standstill at the tram stop where the suspect was arrested.
The number of injured people was overwhelming.
"My husband and I helped them for two hours. He ran back home and grabbed as many blankets as he could find because they didn't have enough to cover the injured people.
And it was so cold," she said.
02:58 PM GMT
Suspected killer was 'pariah' in Germany's Saudi diaspora
Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, the suspect in the Magdeburg attack, was well-known in the Saudi diaspora in the country and had helped asylum seekers, particularly women.
But his erratic personality seems to have led many in the community to avoid him.
"He is a psychologically disturbed person with an exaggerated sense of self-importance," Taha Al-Hajji, legal director of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, told AFP.
Hajji said Abdulmohsen was "a pariah" among the Saudi community in Germany, despite his work with asylum seekers. "This is definitely not an Islamist-motivated attack," he added.
02:45 PM GMT
Suspected killer believed Germany police 'might kill' him
The suspected attacker appeared on an US podcast just eight days before his attack in which he made a series of claims that gave insights into his paranoid state of mind.
Speaking to an organisation called the Rair Foundation, Taleb al Abdulmohsen claimed that Germany was persecuting Saudi ex-Muslims and "actively trying to destroy their lives."
He said this campaign of persecution was being conducted covertly by a "Gestapo-like police unit" and was taking place across the globe.
Rair Foundation USA
Germany is "committing serious crimes including sexual abuse, leading Saudi ex-Muslims to consume drugs, and lying in order to deport them to Saudi Arabia to be executed," he claimed.
He also asserted that German authorities had made his private address public in an attempt to intimidate him or because "they might be planning to do something." "They might kill me," he stated, asking "Why would they expose my address?" He also said that he had tried to expose this plot to the German public but "most people avoid helping me because they are afraid."
Abdulmohsen is a Saudi national who came to Germany in 2006 and started a website to help Saudi women who had rejected Islam to flee their country.
02:31 PM GMT
Pop band Tokio Hotel were at Christmas market on day of attack
Members of Tokio Hotel, one of Germany's most successful pop bands, were at the Magdeburg market moments before the attack.
The band's drummer, Gustav Schafer, wrote a long post on Instagram in which he said that: "We feel numb.
Only a few moments separated us from a moment that changed everything for many people."
Before the attack, Schafer had posted a picture of the Christmas market alongside the caption "it was nice."
01:18 PM GMT
Pictures: police measures after the attack
Police raided the suspect's home in a small town outside Magdeburg early in the morning on Saturday.
Special police forces stand in front of an apartment building that is believed to be connected to an attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. - Sebastian Willnow/DPA
UK police have also increased patrols at a Christmas market in Manchester in response to the attack.
A bigger police presence today in Manchester after the atrocities in Germany. - Zenpix Ltd
01:12 PM GMT
Suspect was due in court on Thursday
Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the suspected attacker, was due in court in Berlin on Thursday on charges of "misuse of an emergency number," Der Spiegel reports.
In February, he turned up at a police station in Berlin and filed a criminal complaint. The statement he gave to the police was reportedly confusing. He then used a phone in the station to call the fire department after growing angry with the officers on duty.
On Thursday, a court was supposed to deal with his appeal against a fine for misusing an emergency service number.
However, he never turned up at the court and his appeal was dismissed.
12:40 PM GMT
Christmas market attacker was Islamophobe, says interior minister
The suspect arrested in connection with the deadly car-ramming attack was Islamophobic, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters on Saturday.
"This was clear to see," Ms Faeser said. She declined to elaborate on the man's political affiliations.
The suspect, Taleb A., ran a social media channel in which he claimed that Germany was planning to Islamise Europe and voiced support for the hard-Right AfD due to their opposition to Muslim migration.
11:44 AM GMT
Saudis warned Germany about suspect three times: report
Security officials in Saudi Arabia warned Germany about suspect Taleb A. on three occasions, according to news outlet Der Spiegel.
It is not clear what the contents of the warnings were. Taleb A. saw himself as persecuted by Saudi authorities and reportedly claimed that he would be murdered if he went back to his home country.
German police also received a complaint in December of last year after Taleb A. threatened on social media to make Germany "pay a price" for its alleged persecution of Saudi refugees.
The complaint was dealt with by police in Saxony-Anhalt who decided not to pursue an investigation, Der Spiegel reports.
11:34 AM GMT
Scholz bemoans 'terrible, brutal attack'
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken from the scene of the attack.
"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality," Scholz said. "Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them."
The chancellor called on the nation to stand together against hate.
11:23 AM GMT
Questions asked over how attacker beat security perimeter
As Magdeburg mourns, German authorities are facing questions over how the attacker was able to gain access to a Christmas market by vehicle, writes James Rothwell from Magdeburg.
Since 2016, when a similar attack occurred in Berlin, German Christmas markets are supposed to be under heavy security, with ram-proof bollards blocking all entranceways.
Hans-Jakob Schindler, a German terrorism expert, told T-Online: "The authorities have to ask themselves, how does a car even get anywhere near a Christmas market in December 2024?
That definitely should not have happened."
He said it was possible that there were gaps in the bollard perimeter that the attacker may have managed to slip through.
"Bollards and barriers at Christmas markets only help if they don't leave any gaps," he said. "Otherwise, you can do without bollards altogether. There are reports that bollards were not put up everywhere because a tram runs near the market.
"If that were the case, the city would have had two options: either the tram would not have been allowed to run during the market or the market would have had to be moved to a place that can be completely cordoned off."
11:15 AM GMT
Magdeburg residents: 'something needs to change'
Residents of Magdeburg are in a state of shock as they gather at the scene of the attack on Saturday morning, reports The Telegraph's James Rothwell.
"We saw it on TV last night and came straight here this morning," Manfred, 60, said as he arrived at the scene of the attack in a bright blue Magdeburg FC bobble hat. "It is terrible. It is a very shocking thing for Magdeburg.
We've never seen anything like this before."
"This will definitely affect the elections [in February] ," he said, "what is clear is that on security, something needs to change in Germany."
Floral tributes have been laid at St John's Church, Johanniskirche, including cuddly toys, candles, and messages of support.
Many of the shops in central Magdeburg remain closed this morning.
At the train station, digital advertising boards displayed the message "The victims are in our thoughts...Magdeburg is strong."
11:10 AM GMT
Pictures: Scholz visits Magdeburg
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is shown around the Christmas market by local governor Reiner Haseloff (left), along with other cabinet ministers. - RONNY HARTMANN/AFP
Olaf Scholz, in the company of federal ministers, prepares to lay a flower in front of a church at the site of the attack. - JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP
Firefighters work at the cordoned-off Christmas Market in Magdeburg on Saturday. - Michael Probst/AP
10:47 AM GMT
Scholz arrives at site of attack
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Magdeburg to pay tribute to the victims of the attack, writes The Telegraph's James Rothwell from Magdeburg.
Mr Scholz pulled up in a convoy of black vehicles just outside the market before heading in with bodyguards and local officials.
He then stopped at a church near the Christmas market, where locals have been laying flowers and other tributes.
The scene of the attack has been completely sealed off to reporters and to the public.
Large, concrete blocks shaped like Lego pieces can be seen forming a cordon around the Christmas market itself, which is adjacent to the high street in the city centre.
It is currently unclear how the attacker managed to get his car through those bollards, though he may have been able to exploit a gap in the cordon.
10:42 AM GMT
Attacker vowed 'revenge,' said he was prepared to die
The suspect at the centre of the attack posted a stream of conspiracy theories to his social media accounts.
German media have been working their way through his postings. In one post from last December he said: "I assure you that revenge will come soon. Even if it costs me my life."
In another post from August of this year, he wrote that: "If Germany wants war, we will have it.
If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die or proudly go to prison... Germany will pay the price."
Taleb A. was reportedly convinced that Germany was involved in a conspiracy to Islamicise Europe.
10:36 AM GMT
Saudis 'tipped off Germany' about attacker
A source inside the Saudi government has told the news agency Reuters that it warned German authorities about Taleb A., who was a vocal critic of the Saudi state and posted regular comments on social media about his life as an ex-Muslim.
Taleb A., is a Saudi national who came to Germany in 2006 and later claimed that he faced persecution in his home country.
10:24 AM GMT
Attacker had taken drugs before attack
A drug test carried out by German police on the driver of the BMW has come out positive, according to Bild newspaper.
The test can detect several drugs including cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines. It is not yet clear what drug the suspected tested positive for.
10:16 AM GMT
Video of the moment of the arrest
Footage reportedly shows German police arresting Magdeburg Christmas market driver after 'terror attack' | Credit: Visegrad24/X
10:15 AM GMT
Local governor announces 'full investigation'
Reiner Haseloff, governor in Saxony-Anhalt, where Magdeburg is the state capital, has made a statement to the press.
"I will work to ensure that this crime is fully investigated.
We owe this to the victims," he said.
"Such a tragedy in a place where families and friends were looking forward to Christmas and spending a beautiful moment with one another, is shocking," he said.
He added that victims "must now receive all our support and help. I especially hope that the injured will recover and that there will be no further fatalities."
10:05 AM GMT
Crime evokes memories of 2016 terror attack
German authorities have recognised Christmas markets as weak spot in the country's security architecture since a terror attack in Berlin in 2016.
Shortly before Christmas that year a Tunisian Islamist hijacked a lorry and rammed it into a street market in the centre of the capital, killing eleven people.
That incident led to greater security precautions, such a bollards being placed at the entrance to Christmas markets.
But the markets, which spring up across Germany during Advent are often on the sides of streets, making it hard for the police to completely guarantee security.
09:59 AM GMT
Death toll rises to five
The number of people confirmed dead in the attack has now risen to five, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.
A small child has been confirmed among the fatalities.
Some 41 people remain in a critical condition in hospital, Bild newspaper reports.
09:56 AM GMT
German cities tighten security around Christmas markets
Throughout December, Christmas markets take over streets and squares of German towns both big and small.
Several cities announced on Saturday that they would be putting more police on patrol over the coming days.
Police in Bavaria, Hamburg and other regions of the country have said that they have no evidence that anyone is planning to attack their markets but said that they would tighten security as a precautionary measure.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism.
Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.[4]
References
- ^ of ploughing a car into crowds at a Magdeburg (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Taleb al Abdulmohsen (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ the attack (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism.
Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
(www.telegraph.co.uk)