What we know about the deadly Christmas market attack in Germany

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Four women and a 9-year-old boy were killed and 200 people were injured when a man drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg — an attack that has left Germans mourning the victims and with a shaken sense of security.

At first, Thi Linh Chi Nguyen thought the loud bangs were fireworks. The 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam, whose salon is near the Christmas market, was on the phone during a break when she heard the noise just after 7 p.m. on Friday. Then she saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.

The woman recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee street and then coming to a standstill at a tram stop where the suspect was arrested.

The Christmas market was surrounded by concrete barriers designed to prevent attacks, but there was a gap left for emergency access, wide enough for a car to speed through.

The market area reopened Sunday, and residents walked slowly amid the shuttered food, drink and craft stands. Nearby, people stopped to light candles or leave flowers at a growing makeshift memorial.

Police say the dead are four women, aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a boy, aged 9. He was named as André Gleissner by fire department officials in the Elm-Asse region west of Magdeburg, where he was a member of the children’s fire brigade.

Authorities said 200 people were injured, including 41 in serious condition. They were being treated in multiple hospitals in Magdeburg, which is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin, and beyond.

Prosecutors said the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, is under investigation on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. In a closed-door hearing on Saturday evening, a judge ordered that he be kept in custody pending a possible indictment.

Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. He has lived in Germany since 2006, practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

The suspect's X account describes him as a former Muslim. It is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion, while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamification of Europe.” He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Investigators are analyzing the suspect's computers, mobile devices and other evidence, trying to understand what motivated him to drive his black BMW into a crowd in the eastern German city. Prosecutors said the motive may have been “dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany.”

Intelligence agencies say that increasingly they are seeing attackers with a confusing mix of beliefs and motivations. The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, Ken McCallum, said in October that “straightforward labels like ‘Islamist terrorism’ or ‘extreme right-wing’ don’t fully reflect the dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies we see.”

There are unanswered questions about what the authorities knew about the suspect. The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said the agency — Germany's equivalent of the FBI — received a warning from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, but that the information was unspecific.

Münch said the suspect “published a huge number of posts on the internet,” was in contact with various authorities and “made insults and even threats” — but was not known to be violent.

Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also acknowledged it had received a warning about the suspect last year.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing criticism about security lapses that allowed the attack to happen, and was heckled by some bystanders during a visit to Magdeburg on Saturday.

The violence shocked all of Germany, prompting several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution, and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but increased the police presence.

Germany has suffered several extremist attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others.

Those attacks have led cities to beef up security at Christmas markets and other events.

The horror triggered by yet another act of mass violence in Germany makes it likely that migration will remain a key issue as Germans head toward an early election on Feb. 23.

It is the latest in a string of incidents around the world in which vehicles have been used as weapons by jihadi attackers, far-right extremists and others whose motives were unclear.

People gather to lay flowers and light candles at the entrance of Johannis church near the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A woman stands next to flowers and candles laid down near the Magdeburg Cathedral, after a car drove into a crowd of a Christmas Mark on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People lay flowers and light candles on concrete blocks that protect the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Saturday evening , Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People have lit candles at the Christmas Market in Magdeburg, Germany on Saturday evening , Dec. 21, 2024, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, . (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People lay flowers and light candles on concrete blocks that protect the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Saturday evening , Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Flowers and candles laid down in front of the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A couple embrace each other in front of flowers and candles laid down at the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — When Cyclone Chido ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure, it also exposed deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population.

Thousands of people who have entered the island illegally bore the brunt of the storm that tore through the Indian Ocean archipelago — France's poorest territory. Authorities in Mayotte said many migrants avoided emergency shelters out of fear of deportation, leaving themselves and the precarious shantytowns they inhabit even more vulnerable to the devastation.

Meanwhile, anger simmered among residents who accused the government of diverting the island’s already scarce resources to migrants at their expense.

“We are the legitimate population of this island,” said Amada Salime. Standing in the rubble of his home on Saturday, he added, “If there is help from the government — water or something to eat or money to make houses — Mahorais people will not have it. Immigrants are more numerous than us, and we will be left behind.”

Mayotte, a French department located between Madagascar and mainland Africa, has a population of 320,000. French authorities have estimated another 100,000 migrants also live there, most of whom have arrived from the nearby Comoros Islands, just 70 kilometers (43 miles) away.

The island’s fragile public services, designed for a much smaller population, are buckling under the strain. According to the French statistics agency INSEE, around three-quarters of Mayotte’s population live in poverty, with a median annual disposable income just one-eighth that of the Paris metropolitan area.

“The problems of Mayotte cannot be solved without addressing illegal immigration,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during his testy visit this week, acknowledging the challenges posed by the island’s rapid population growth. “Despite the state’s investments, migratory pressure has made everything explode,” he added.

The cyclone further exacerbated the island’s issues after destroying homes, schools and infrastructure. Though the official death toll remains 35, authorities say that any estimates are likely major undercounts, with hundreds feared dead.

The migrants’ shantytowns, known as “bangas,” have long been an issue in Mayotte. “Can we solve the issue of shantytowns today? The answer is no. We will address it during the stabilization and rebuilding phase,” Macron said.

For many migrants, like Nazca Antoiy, a Comorian who has lived in Mayotte for a decade, the cyclone has heightened fears of displacement.

“I heard that people were told not to reconstruct new houses. So we need to worry about that,” she said, reflecting a widespread concern that authorities may use the disaster to expedite demolitions of informal settlements.

Such concerns are not unfounded. Last year, France launched Operation Wuambushu, a controversial campaign to demolish shantytowns and deport migrants who entered illegally. Macron hinted that similar policies could resume but stressed reconstruction efforts would take precedence.

The storm has left many residents struggling to meet basic needs.

“I can’t take it anymore. Just to have water is complicated,” said Fatima, a 46-year-old mother of five whose family has been without clean water since the storm ravaged Mayotte last weekend. Fatima, who only gave her first name because her family is known locally, also said she felt the island could not support the current population, let alone more.

Most migrants have family links in Mayotte and speak the same language. They seek a better life on the island rather than aiming to reach the European continent.

Mayotte’s geopolitical position has long made it a hotspot for migration. While the island voted to remain French in referendums held in 1974 and 1976, neighboring Comoros has never recognized its sovereignty and continues to claim the archipelago as its own. This unresolved dispute has fueled waves of migration, with thousands risking perilous sea crossings each year.

Outgoing French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau recently reignited the debate, describing the situation in Mayotte as a “war,” earlier this week. Retailleau proposed stricter measures, including using drones and naval patrols to block further arrivals. “We must be much tougher on the Comoros,” he said, accusing the neighboring government of allowing migrants to leave its shores unchecked.

Retailleau’s calls to “change the rules” include proposals to restrict birthright citizenship in Mayotte, a policy already tightened in 2018 to require proof that at least one parent had been a legal resident for more than three months. Critics argue that these measures only deepen Mayotte’s divisions without addressing the root causes of migration.

A 2023 parliamentary report cited in French media warned that the island was a “ticking time bomb,” while suggesting redistributing part of Mayotte’s migrant population to mainland France — a proposal unlikely to gain widespread support.

Adamson reported from Paris.

People line up to collect water in Barakani, Mayotte, home Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Women wait in line at a water distribution point in Mamoudzou, Mayotte, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)