At least two people - a child and an adult - were killed in a car attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, and at least 68 people were injured, the Prime Minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt Rainer Haseloff announced, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
The attack occurred eight years after a similar incident at a Christmas market in Berlin, at a time when Germany is in the midst of an election campaign and is on high alert for possible terrorist attacks, according to Agence France-Presse.
The alleged perpetrator is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who lives and practices in Bernburg in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, whose capital is Magdeburg, 160 km from Berlin.
The man, who has lived in Germany since 2006 and has a permanent residence permit in the country, acted alone, Haseloff said.
The car drove "at least 400 meters through the Christmas market," a Magdeburg police spokesman told AFP.
The attacker was behind the wheel of a black SUV that drove through security barriers and then zigzags through the market area, according to accounts from visitors to the local news website “Volkssthime“.
When he tried to turn back, the attacker was stopped by police officers, according to the same source. The doctor has been arrested.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued a statement after the attack. "The joy of the upcoming peaceful Christmas has been brutally darkened," he said.
"This is a terrible tragedy. This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg, for the province and for Germany as a whole," said Haseloff.
Immediately after the incident was announced, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said:
"The news from Magdeburg does not bode well." My thoughts are with the injured and their families,“ wrote Scholz on the social network “Ex“.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed his condolences to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the bloody attack, DPA reported.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,“ wrote Rutte on the social network “Ex“ and added: “NATO stands behind Germany“.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “her thoughts are with the victims“ and called the attack “brutal and cowardly“.
“My condolences to all the relatives and friends of the victims“, wrote Von der Leyen in “Ex“ and thanked the German police and emergency services.
The current EC President and former German Defense Minister called for “this act of violence to be investigated and severely punished“.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “horrified by the monstrous attack“ on the Christmas market in Magdeburg.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected“, Starmer wrote in “Ex“ and added: “We stand with the German people“.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was deeply shocked by what happened, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
“France shares the grief of the German people and expresses all its solidarity“, the French president wrote on the social network “Ex“. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also said she was deeply shocked by this “brutal attack“.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock also expressed her condolences to the relatives of the victims of the attack, Reuters reports.
“My deepest condolences to the victims and their families. "Thank you to the emergency services and the people who helped them," Berbock wrote in "Ex", expressing his shock at the footage from the scene of the incident.
The United States is shocked and saddened by the deadly car attack on a Christmas market in eastern Germany last night, a US State Department spokesman said, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
"The United States is shocked and saddened by the tragic news from Magdeburg, where at least two people have died and 68 have been injured," spokesman Matthew Miller said, assuring that Washington is ready to provide assistance to Germany.
American billionaire Elon Musk, who is preparing to join the government of newly elected US President Donald Trump as a foreign advisor, called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to submit resignation, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“Sholz should resign immediately. Incompetent fool“, Musk wrote on the social network “Ex“.
Saudi Arabia condemns last night's car attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, the Gulf country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday, Reuters reported.