Eyewitnesses described the moment a glittering Christmas market in Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, turned into a scene of massacre. “When it was all over, everyone was lying on the ground,” one witness said. Children, men, wounded, unimaginable,” he said.
A crowd of families were gathered around a large Christmas tree in the market in the center of Magdeburg when a car sped toward them at around 7 p.m. local time.
“We didn’t hear the car,” 32-year-old Nadine told Bild newspaper, adding that she had come from West Germany to visit the famous market in the old town square.
“It was terrifying,” Nadine said of the vehicle that sped through the crowd for 400 metres as she hugged her 39-year-old boyfriend Marco.
Speaking later, as more than 100 emergency crews arrived at the chaotic scene, Nadine said in despair that she did not know which hospital her husband had been taken to.
“The uncertainty is unbearable,” she said, as authorities reported that at least five people, including a child, had been killed and more than 60 injured.
Police said they had arrested a suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor.
“The motives remain a mystery,” the weekly Der Spiegel reported.
Local newspaper Volkstimme reported from the scene that the attacker “zigzagged through the market, trying to hit as many people as possible.”
“When it was all over, everyone was lying on the ground,” an eyewitness told Welt TV. “Children, men, wounded, unimaginable,” he said.
“It’s horrible, I had a dead body next to me the whole time,” another eyewitness told Welt.
“I thought I was just going to a Christmas market and then this happened. The world is a sick place,” he added.
Magdeburg was illuminated with glittering Christmas decorations and more than a million LED lights, while flashing blue police lights illuminated the scene as sirens wailed after the attack.
Footage taken by bystanders and distributed by local media showed people rushing to help and comfort those lying on the ground among the festival stalls.
Television footage from the scene showed dozens of emergency services personnel tending to the injured, some protected by white plastic tents, while announcements over loudspeakers urged people to go home.
As the news spread and politicians poured in messages of condolence, fans of the city’s football club FC Magdeburg fell silent during their away match against Fortuna Duesseldorf.
Later on Friday evening, the first flowers of condolence were laid at the scene.
Magdeburg Mayor Simone Borris, holding back tears, announced that a memorial service would be held in the city’s main cathedral.
One woman told the Die Welt newspaper that she was shocked: “I don’t know what world we live in, that someone could use such a peaceful event to spread terror.”
