The first striking thing was the silence. In the streets of downtown Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt) on Saturday, December 21, all that could be heard was the rustling of rolling suitcases as people hurried home to their families for the holidays. The music had been turned off; the Christmas hubbub had stopped. There was no familiar smell of grilled sausages, waffles and mulled wine, characteristic of the season. The stalls of the Christmas market have kept their shutters closed and will not reopen, according to the city.
Magdeburg was mourning the tragedy of the previous day: A man whose intentions remain unclear, a Saudi-born doctor practicing in the region since 2006 and a political refugee, drove his car at full speed into the crowd gathered at one of the city’s main Christmas markets. Five people died, including a child, and 200 were injured, according to the latest report.
Near the Alter Markt tram stop, not far from the river Elbe, the locals were coming to pay their respects non-stop. It was at this point, the only one not protected by a concrete block, that the rented BMW entered the market and mowed down the crowd for 400 meters, before being stopped by the police. On the ground still lay the rubber gloves used by the ambulance drivers, their first-aid kits, survival blankets. Behind the caution tape, passers-by were trying to reconstruct the vehicle’s wild ride.
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