German Christmas market suspect remanded by judge

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

The 50-year-old was brought before Magdeburg district court on Saturday evening following the incident on Friday when a black BMW car ploughed through the crowded market injuring more than 200 people.

Magdeburg Police said investigations are continuing and officers are appealing for witnesses to send in photos or video of the incident.

The suspect has been named 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 four women – aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 – were also killed in the incident.

“The judge ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm,” its statement said.

City officials said around 100 police, medics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue service personnel, went to the scene shortly after 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Friday.

Witnesses described how they had to jump out of the car’s path during the attack.

In an interview with German paper Bild, one woman called Nadine described being at the Christmas market with her boyfriend Marco when the car came speeding towards them.

“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 “blood on the floor” as well as “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries”.

A memorial service for victims of the attack was held at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday evening

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

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

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

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

Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said on Saturday that the investigation was ongoing but suggested one potential motive for the attack “could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany”.

Al-Abdulmohsen is thought to have driven into the market through an entry point which was reserved for emergency vehicles, police said.

The suspect is a psychiatrist who lived in Bernburg, around 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

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

He ran a website that aimed to help other former Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf homelands.

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

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

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

However, another experienced counter-terrorism expert said the Saudis may be mounting a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who tried to help young Saudi women seek asylum in Germany.

Additional reporting Frank Gardner.