German Christmas market suspect detained before judge

A man accused of murdering four women and a nine-year-old boy by running them over with a car at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has been remanded in custody.

The 50-year-old appeared at the Magdeburg district court on Saturday afternoon following the incident on Friday, when a black BMW car plowed through a crowded market, injuring more than 200 people.

Magdeburg police said investigations are continuing and officers are asking witnesses to send photographs or videos of the incident.

The suspect has been identified in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.

On Sunday morning, Magdeburg police confirmed that four women, aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, also died in the incident.

“The judge ordered remand on five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily injury,” the statement said.

City authorities said around 100 police, medics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue service personnel, responded to the scene shortly after 7:00 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT) on Friday.

Witnesses described how they had to jump out of the way of the car during the attack.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild, a woman named Nadine described being at the Christmas market with her boyfriend Marco when the car sped toward them.

“They hit him and took him away from me,” the 32-year-old told the newspaper. “It was terrible.”

Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight program that he saw “blood on the floor” as well as “a lot of doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries.”

A funeral service was held on Saturday afternoon for the victims of the attack on Magdeburg Cathedral.

The service was attended by relatives of the victims, emergency workers and federal government officials, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

During a visit to the market on Saturday, Scholz described the attack as a “terrible tragedy” as “many people were injured and killed with such brutality” in a place that is supposed to be “joyful.”

He told reporters there were serious concerns for those who had been seriously injured and that “all resources” would be allocated to investigating the suspect behind the attack.

Earlier, Reiner Haseloff, premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said a preliminary investigation suggested the alleged attacker was acting alone.

Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said Saturday that the investigation was ongoing, but suggested that a possible motive for the attack “could have been discontent with the way Saudi refugees are treated in Germany.”

Al-Abdulmohsen is believed to have entered the market through an entry point reserved for emergency vehicles, police said.

The suspect is a psychiatrist who lived in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers south of Magdeburg.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, al-Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognized as a refugee.

He ran a website aimed at helping other ex-Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf home countries.

The alleged attacker has no known links to Islamist extremism. His social media and posts appear to suggest that he had been critical of Islam.

A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC that it sent four official notifications known as “Verbal Notes” to German authorities, warning them about what they said were al-Abdulmohsen’s “very extreme views.”

The source, who asked not to be identified, said these notifications were ignored.

However, another senior counterterrorism expert said the Saudis could be mounting a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who tried to help young Saudis seek asylum in Germany.

Additional reporting Frank Gardner.