At Least One Person Dead When a Car Plows Into a German Christmas Market

A car ploughed into a holiday market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday, Dec. 20, in what was called a terror attack by officials, according to the German news agency DPA.

“Extensive police operations are currently taking place at the Magdeburg Christmas market,” the Magdeburg Saxony-Anhalt police department posted in a statement to X.

The number of victims was unclear, though The Guardian reported that at least one person had been killed. Video posted to social media showed several individuals laying on the ground and emergency services at the scene, the BBC reported.

According to the AP and The Guardian, citing the German news agency, the car’s driver has been arrested.

“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” said Saxony-Anhalt Minister-President Reiner Haseloff, the outlets reported. The outlets also noted that German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said earlier in December that there were no concrete threats of danger to holiday market goers but encouraged shoppers to remain vigilant nonetheless.

Magdeburg is a city in central Germany, west of Berlin, with a population of roughly 200,000.

In 2016, 12 were killed and almost 50 were injured after a truck drove into a holiday market in central Berlin. The attack spurred a multi-day manhunt for suspect Anis Amri that captivated the globe, concluding in a deadly police shootout in Milan, Italy.

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