A car plowed into a crowd at a German Christmas market on Friday, causing at least 20 injuries in a suspected terror attack.
The car crashed through barriers protecting the market in Magdeburg and drove straight into shoppers, eyewitnesses reported.
Video purportedly taken by a nearby camera showed a car mowing down pedestrians as it sped through a narrow alleyway with stalls on either side.
The driver has been arrested, Germany’s DPA news agency reported, and police closed the market as they searched for explosives.
More than 20 people appeared to have been injured in the attack, the paper reported.
The prime minister of Saxony-Anholt province, Reiner Haseloff, was reported to be on his way to the scene.
European Christmas markets frequently targeted
Christmas markets in Europe have been frequent targets for terror attacks and both France and Germany have stepped up security in order to protect the public.
In 2016, a truck drove into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and leaving 17 injured in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.
Already this year, a series of security incidents at Christmas markets have raised concern.
On December 1 in Schöneck, Saxony, the mayor and another individual were shot at with a Softair pistol.
Three days later, a 37-year-old Iraqi national was arrested in Augsburg, Bavaria, for allegedly scouting the Christkindlesmarkt, and sharing Islamic State propaganda.
In November, a 17-year-old German-Turkish national was apprehended in the northern town of Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, for planning a truck attack inspired by the 2016 Berlin market tragedy.
And authorities in Mannheim and Frankfurt also arrested two German-Lebanese brothers on charges of planning attacks on local Christmas markets.
Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...as-market/
The car crashed through barriers protecting the market in Magdeburg and drove straight into shoppers, eyewitnesses reported.
Video purportedly taken by a nearby camera showed a car mowing down pedestrians as it sped through a narrow alleyway with stalls on either side.
The driver has been arrested, Germany’s DPA news agency reported, and police closed the market as they searched for explosives.
More than 20 people appeared to have been injured in the attack, the paper reported.
The prime minister of Saxony-Anholt province, Reiner Haseloff, was reported to be on his way to the scene.
European Christmas markets frequently targeted
Christmas markets in Europe have been frequent targets for terror attacks and both France and Germany have stepped up security in order to protect the public.
In 2016, a truck drove into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and leaving 17 injured in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.
Already this year, a series of security incidents at Christmas markets have raised concern.
On December 1 in Schöneck, Saxony, the mayor and another individual were shot at with a Softair pistol.
Three days later, a 37-year-old Iraqi national was arrested in Augsburg, Bavaria, for allegedly scouting the Christkindlesmarkt, and sharing Islamic State propaganda.
In November, a 17-year-old German-Turkish national was apprehended in the northern town of Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, for planning a truck attack inspired by the 2016 Berlin market tragedy.
And authorities in Mannheim and Frankfurt also arrested two German-Lebanese brothers on charges of planning attacks on local Christmas markets.
Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...as-market/
