Germany mourns market attack victims

BERLIN — A memorial service was held Saturday evening in the German city of Magdeburg to mourn the victims of a tragic attack at a Christmas market on Friday night, where a car rammed into a crowd, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others.

The service took place at the city's cathedral and was intended primarily for the victims' relatives, emergency responders, and invited guests, including President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Outside the cathedral, mourners gathered to lay flowers and light candles in remembrance of the victims.

To mark the tragedy, church bells tolled across Magdeburg at 7:04 pm — the exact time the attack occurred.

A nine-year-old child is among the five people killed, confirmed Horst Walter Nopens, head of the local public prosecutor's office, without disclosing further details about the other four adult victims.

He said about 200 people suffered injuries, many of them serious. Authorities warned the death toll could rise.

According to German media, the attack lasted roughly three minutes. The emergency route used by the perpetrator was not secured with barriers, raising concerns about safety measures.

Condemning the act, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the incident as "a terrible tragedy to harm and kill so many people with such brutality".

A 50-year-old doctor, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, originating from Saudi Arabia, was arrested at the site and taken into custody for questioning. Police searched his home overnight, and authorities assume he acted alone. He has lived in Germany since 2006 and worked in a nearby town.

His motive remained unclear. Nopens said one possible factor could be the suspect's frustration with Germany's handling of Saudi refugees.

News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany's spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a "price" for its treatment of Saudi refugees.

Die Welt daily reported, also citing security sources, that German state and federal police had carried out a "risk assessment" on Abdulmohsen last year but concluded that he posed "no specific danger".

Scholz and other top officials, including Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, arrived in Magdeburg on Saturday. Faeser ordered Saturday morning that all flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-mast nationwide.

Xinhua - Agencies