In short:
At least two people are dead after a car was driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, local media has reported.
The driver of the car was arrested. Local rescue services said there are 60 to 80 people injured.
What's next?
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit the scene on Saturday local time and will "draw long-term consequences".
Two people are dead and at least 60 injured after a car was driven into crowds at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, the premier of the state of Saxony Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, said on local television.
Mr Haseloff said one of those who died was a small child and he couldn’t rule out further deaths.
“Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” he said.
Mr Haseloff called it a catastrophe for the city, state and country.
The Christmas markets remain closed. (AP: Heiko Rebsch/dpa )
Local police said on X (Twitter) that "extensive police operations are currently taking place".
Police said the vehicle drove "at least 400 metres across the Christmas market" leaving behind a trail of bloodied casualties.
A video posted on social media from a position above the market shows a car driving at speed through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls.
People can be seen being knocked to the ground and running away.
At least 60 others have been injured in what authorities suspect was an attack, 15 of those are "hurt very seriously" according to government officials.
The driver of the car has been arrested following the incident. (AP: Dörthe Hein/dpa)
"At the current time emergency services confirm the following numbers: one dead, 15 seriously injured, 37 moderately injured, 16 lightly injured," said city authorities in a Facebook post.
Local media have reported that eyewitnesses saw a BMW drive into the crowd at around 7pm local time.
German police have arrested a doctor from Saudi Arabia who they believe was the driver of the car, police and state premier Mr Haseloff said.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city," he added.
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry condemned the attack.
Regional Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang said that the man from Saudi Arabia lived in Bernburg, some 40 kilometres south of Magdeburg, and had "a permanent residence permit".
Police officers and emergency services were on site, and the market manager had told people to leave the city centre, German broadcaster MDR said.
Eyewitnesses told the broadcaster that the car drove straight into the crowd at the market, in the direction of the town hall.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.
“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas," Mr Haseloff said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit the scene on Saturday local time, Mr Haseloff said.
Eyewitnesses told the broadcaster that the car drove straight into the crowd at the market. (AP: Heiko Rebsch/dpa )
He and Mr Scholz will discuss the "necessary measures" to be taken next, he said.
"We now need to work through this and draw long-term consequences."
Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”
On December 19, 2016 in Berlin, an Islamic extremist attacker drove through a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, leaving 13 people dead and injuring dozens more.
The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.
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