FIVE KILLED AFTER MAN DRIVES INTO GERMAN CHRISTMAS MARKET
A nine-year-old boy was among the five people killed when a man drove his car into a Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg.
The incident took place on 20 December.
More than 200 people were injured including 40 people who sustained critical or serious injuries.
It’s believed that the suspect, a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for almost 20 years, named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, used emergency exit routes to access the market grounds.
His rampage lasted about three minutes before he surrendered himself to police on the scene.
He has been placed in investigative detention on suspicion of five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Al-Abdulmohsen works at a clinic specialising in treating offenders with addiction issues but hasn’t been attending work since the end of October.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for national unity during his traditional Christmas address to the German people.
“Hatred and violence must not have the final word. Let’s not allow ourselves to be driven apart. Let’s stand together.”
According to Der Spiegel news magazine, al-Abdulmohsen was a supporter of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
Image credit: World Wide Schooling