Magdeburg Christmas market: Mark White outlines main considerations for investigators after ‘absolutely shocking’ event

GB News Home and Security Editor Mark White has said investigators will be considering what the incident in Magdeburg constitutes as.

“It has all the hallmarks of the type of vehicle attack we have seen so many times in so many cities,” he said.

He explained that such attacks are typically “low in sophistication” where perpetrators “take a knife from a kitchen draw or get behind the wheel of a vehicle and try to cause as many casualties as possible.”

The GB News Home and Security Editor stressed that whilst German authorities have not confirmed it as a terror attack, this would be “the key thought in the mind of investigators” as they examine this “absolutely shocking event”.

A car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, at 7:04pm on Friday evening.

At least one person has been confirmed dead in the incident, according to German public broadcaster MDR.

Reports suggest up to 20 people have been injured in the crash, which involved what witnesses described as a dark BMW.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene, according to German news agency dpa, citing government officials in Saxony-Anhalt.

Organisers immediately closed the Christmas market and asked people to leave the city centre.

The Magdeburg Christmas market is located on the Old Market, directly next to the Town Hall near the River Elbe.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister President Reiner Haseloff expressed his shock, calling it “a terrible event, especially in the days leading up to Christmas.”

Haseloff announced he was travelling to Magdeburg to assess the situation personally.

The Magdeburg police department posted on social media that “extensive police operations are currently taking place at the Magdeburg Christmas market.”

The city, which lies west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has approximately 240,000 inhabitants.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said in late November that there were no concrete indications of danger to Christmas markets this year, whilst emphasising the importance of vigilance.