The death toll from car attacks at German Christmas markets rises to four, reports Bild

BERLIN (Reuters) – The death toll from a car crash at a German Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg rose to four on Saturday, according to German newspaper Bild, after a suspect plowed into a large crowd of visitors on Friday.

German authorities are investigating a Saudi doctor who was arrested as the suspected driver of the car. The magazine Der Spiegel reported that he had sympathies for the right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

More than 60 people were injured, some seriously, when a vehicle drove through crowds at a downtown market, local officials said. There was also a small child among the dead.

Police said they arrested a 50-year-old from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for almost two decades. Police did not release the man’s name and were not immediately available for comment on the reported increase in the death toll.

The man worked as a doctor in a nearby town, local officials said. Police searched his house overnight.

A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views that threatened peace and security on his personal X account.

Der Spiegel reported that the suspect sympathized with the AfD. The magazine did not say where it got the information.

The German domestic secret service was initially not available for comment.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Magdeburg later on Saturday.

The attack comes at a time of intense debate over migration and security in Germany, which is preparing for early elections on February 23.

The AfD, which is currently in second place in the polls behind the conservative opposition, has led calls for a crackdown on immigration into the country.

AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel condemned the attack and said on X: “The pictures from #Magdeburg are shocking! My thoughts are with the bereaved and injured. When will this madness end?”

(Reporting by Rachel More and Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Pesha Magid in Riyadh; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)