STORY: At least 5 killed, 200 injured in German Christmas market car-ramming
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 21, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:31
LOCATION: MAGDEBURG, Germany
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (English): TAI SICONG, Xinhua correspondent
2. SOUNDBITE (German): OLAF SCHOLZ, German Chancellor
3. various of the incident site

STORYLINE:

At least five people were killed and over 200 others injured after a car rammed into a large crowd at a Christmas market in the central German city of Magdeburg Friday evening, German news agency dpa reported Saturday, citing State Premier Reiner Haseloff.

"We have five deaths and over 200 injuries, many of them serious and severe," Haseloff said, noting that the toll was far worse than initially thought when the incident occurred.

STANDUP (English): TAI SICONG, Xinhua correspondent
"I'm at the site of the car attack in Magdeburg, Germany. Chancellor Scholz and the Saxony-Anhalt governor just visited and addressed the media. Five people have died, and Scholz expressed his condolences."
   
SOUNDBITE (German): OLAF SCHOLZ, German Chancellor
"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people with such brutality. We have now learned that over 200 people have been injured. Five have died so far, an incredible number, and nearly 40 of the injured are so seriously hurt that we must be worried about them. Therefore, this is a horrific and tragic event, one that calls on all of us to show our compassion to the families, the injured, and the city of Magdeburg. As Federal Chancellor, I want to reaffirm the solidarity of the entire nation and everyone in Germany who bears responsibility in this accident. This goes straight to the heart, and we will and we must stand together here."

German authorities are investigating a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who has been living in Germany since 2006 and worked in a nearby town. He was arrested at the site and taken into custody for questioning. Police searched his home overnight, and authorities assume he acted alone.
   
The motive remained unclear.
   
German authorities were alerted about the man about a year ago, dpa reported.
   
The identities of the fatalities have not been revealed. Mourners lit candles and placed flowers outside a church near the market.
   
Scholz and other top officials, including Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, have arrived in Magdeburg on Saturday. Faeser ordered Saturday morning that all flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-mast nationwide.
   
Magdeburg, a city of approximately 237,000 residents, is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, about 150 km west of Berlin.
   
The incident echoes a tragic attack eight years ago, on Dec. 19, 2016, when a terrorist drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring over 70 others. The perpetrator fled to Italy, where he was eventually shot dead by police.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Magdeburg, Germany.
(XHTV)