Germany authorities have confirmed that four women – aged between 45 and 75 – and a nine-year-old boy were killed during Friday’s horrific attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany – with the death toll expected to rise
The man behind Friday’s horrific Christmas market massacre in the German city of Magdeburg was jailed last night as a judge remanded him into custody.
The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi exile whose name has been reported as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen and in local media only as Taleb A, was hauled in front of a judge Saturday night after he rammed his vehicle through a crowd of hundreds in the central town, injuring more than 200 people and killing four women and a nine-year-old boy.
Magdeburg Police this morning said that four women, aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, were among the fatal victims of the horror attack. “The judge ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm,” its statement said.
According to city officials, around 100 police officers, firefighters and medics had been sent to the scene after the vehicle slammed into the revellers gathered to celebrate the festive season at around 7pm on Friday night.
One witness called Nadine told German daily Bild that her boyfriend, Marco, who had been by her side, was torn away and flung several metres as the speeding car crashed into him. “He was hit and pulled away from my side,” the 32-year-old told the paper. “It was terrible.”
Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight programme he saw doctors trying to warm the injured laying on the blood-spattered floor.
A boy aged nine was last night confirmed as the youngest of five people killed in the Christmas market horror attack as it was claimed Germany ignored warnings the suspect was a danger. And there are fears the death toll could rise, as it is understood “many people” remain in intensive care.
The psychologist, 50, who is understood to who have moved to Germany in 2006, is believed to be anti-Islam, a Shia Muslim from the city of Al-Hofuf who turned his back on his religion. It was claimed Saudi security officials tried to warn German authorities about him a year ago and that they failed to respond to concerns.
He reportedly posted online about killing Germans en masse months before the attack, claiming “slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately” could be a “path to justice”. And he allegedly supported comments made by far-right activist Tommy Robinson on social media, posted messages about Germany’s right-wing opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and accused his adopted homeland of failing to address what he called the “Islamism of Europe”.
He also shared dozens of tweets and retweets a day focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticising the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith. In a BBC documentary in 2019, he spoke about helping others to get safe asylum outside of Saudi Arabia and described himself as an “ex-Muslim” living in exile in Germany. He claimed his life was “threatened” in his native Saudi Arabia and he was spending up to 16 hours a day assisting asylum seekers.
