Roundup: Memorial service held for car-ramming victims at German Christmas market

BERLIN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A memorial service was held Saturday evening in the German city of Magdeburg to mourn the victims of a tragic attack at a Christmas market on Friday night, where a car rammed into a crowd, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others.

The service took place at the city's cathedral and was intended primarily for the victims' relatives, emergency responders, and invited guests, including Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Outside the cathedral, mourners gathered to lay flowers and light candles in remembrance of the victims.

To mark the tragedy, church bells tolled across Magdeburg at 7:04 p.m. (1804 GMT) -- the exact time the attack occurred.

VICTIMS INCLUDE 9-YEAR-OLD CHILD

A nine-year-old child is among the five people killed, confirmed Horst Walter Nopens, head of the local public prosecutor's office, without disclosing further details about the other four adult victims.

He said approximately 200 people sustained injuries, many of them serious. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise.

According to German media, the attack lasted roughly three minutes. The emergency route used by the perpetrator was not secured with barriers, raising concerns about safety measures.

Condemning the act, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the incident as "a terrible tragedy to harm and kill so many people with such brutality."

DOCTOR FROM SAUDI ARABIA UNDER INVESTIGATION

A 50-year-old doctor originated from Saudi Arabia was arrested at the site and taken into custody for questioning. Police searched his home overnight, and authorities assume he acted alone. He has lived in Germany since 2006 and worked in a nearby town.

Authorities noted earlier that the suspect was not previously known to law enforcement as an Islamist.

His motive remained unclear and police have not yet named the suspect. Nopens said one possible factor could be the suspect's frustration with Germany's handling of Saudi refugees.

According to the German news agency dpa, authorities had been alerted about the man approximately a year ago.

Scholz and other top officials, including Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, arrived in Magdeburg on Saturday. Faeser ordered Saturday morning that all flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-mast nationwide.

Magdeburg, a city of approximately 237,000 residents, is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, about 150 km west of Berlin.

The incident echoes a tragic attack on Dec. 19, 2016, when a terrorist drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring over 70 others. The perpetrator fled to Italy, where he was eventually shot dead by police. ■