The German News Agency reported that a driver hit his car into a group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday.
Officials said they suspected it was an attack and that people had been injured, but it was not immediately clear how many were injured.
The agency said, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, that the driver of the car was arrested. Regional government spokesman Matthias Schube and city spokesman Michael Reif said they suspected it was an attack.
Reeve said there were “many wounded” but did not give an exact number.
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He added: “The pictures are terrible.” He added: “My information is that a car plowed into visitors to the Christmas market, but I cannot yet determine the direction or distance.”
Footage from the site of the cordoned-off part of the market showed debris on the ground.
“This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas,” said Saxony-Anhalt Governor Rainer Haselof. Haselov told the German news agency that he was on his way to Magdeburg but could not immediately provide any information about the victims or the cause of the accident.
Magdeburg, located west of Berlin, is the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and has a population of about 240,000.
The suspected attack came a day after the eighth anniversary of the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On December 19, 2016, an Islamic extremist attacker drove a truck into a crowd of Christmas market-goers, killing 13 people and wounding dozens. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
German Interior Minister Nancy Weisser said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but it was wise to be vigilant.
By tabbouleh
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