Death toll in German Christmas market attack rises to five, police probe Saudi suspect

The Star

German authorities are investigating a Saudi man with a history of anti-Islam rhetoric as the suspected driver in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg which killed five people, officials said on Saturday (Dec 21).  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Media outlets have identified the suspect in Friday's car rampage at a German Christmas

00:06market in Magdeburg as Taleb A. His social media posts claimed that German authorities

00:12had committed crimes against Saudi refugees and advised people not to seek asylum in Germany.

00:18Reports said Saudi Arabia had previously warned German authorities about the suspect after

00:23he posted extreme views on his social media accounts.

00:27The suspect reportedly sympathized with the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

00:32Authorities have said they arrested a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, who has been living

00:36in Germany for almost two decades, following the attack that has killed at least five people.

00:43German Chancellor Olaf Scholz paid tribute to the victims at the scene on Saturday, saying

00:47that it was a terrible act that caused not only deaths, but also serious injuries to

00:53almost 40 people.

01:00Tobias Rausch, the general manager of the Alternative for Germany party in Saxony-Anhalt,

01:05witnessed the incident, saying that the car engine was roaring and people were screaming

01:10and running for their lives.

01:53The incident occurred at 7.04pm, when the car

02:01driven by the suspect rammed into the crowd at the Christmas market travelling at least

02:05400 metres. The suspect was detained at the Alley Centre tram station.

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