A man accused of driving a car into crowds at a German Christmas market, killing five people and injuring more than 200, has been detained on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.The Magdeburg police department said in a statement on Sunday the man had been issued a warrant for pre-trial detention on charges of murder on five counts as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Those killed were a nine-year-old boy and four women aged 52, 45, 75 and 67, the police statement said. Among the wounded, about 40 had serious or critical injuries.
Authorities reported that the suspected attacker used emergency exit routes to access the Christmas market grounds, where he accelerated and drove into the crowds, striking more than 200 people in a three-minute rampage. He was arrested at the scene.
Simmering tensions
The attack on Friday evening in the central city of Magdeburg shocked Germany and reignited simmering tensions around the issue of migration.
The suspect, who was named as Taleb A, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islam rhetoric, who has resided in Germany for nearly two decades. Advertisement
The motive for the attack remains unclear, but the Magdeburg prosecutor, Horst Nopens, said on Saturday that one possible factor could be what he called the suspect’s frustration with Germany’s handling of Saudi refugees.
The suspected attacker had made online death threats against German citizens and had a history of …
