Eyewitnesses Recount Magdeburg Christmas Market Attack

Nadine, 32, recounted to the Bild newspaper that she was embracing her boyfriend at the Magdeburg Christmas market when the vehicle involved in the incident accelerated towards them. She stated, “He was hit and pulled away from my side. It was terrible.” German media outlets released footage depicting a black car colliding with a group of individuals at considerable speed, proceeding for hundreds of meters. Nadine’s boyfriend reportedly suffered injuries to his leg and head. Gianni Warzecha, another eyewitness, informed the BBC that he was enjoying Christmas music at the market with his girlfriend’s family when “suddenly there was a rumbling and the sound of shattered glass.” He described the scene: “People began to panic. I saw the car and people on the floor, people bleeding. There were also kids.” Warzecha added, “I was concentrating on getting first aid to people. It took a few minutes for the first paramedics to arrive but it wasn’t enough because there were already 200 people hurt. Most of the first aid was done by people there.” Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for the public broadcaster MDR, who reached the Magdeburg Christmas market soon after the incident, shared his observations with the BBC. He recounted, “Everywhere were ambulances, there were police, there were a lot of fire workers. This was a real chaotic situation. We saw blood on the floor, we saw people sitting beside each other and having golden and silver foils around them. And we saw many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries.” Frohmüller concluded, “It’s a big shock. It’s a big shock for every people here in Magdeburg and for every person in Saxony-Anhalt.” Tobias Rausch, general secretary of Germany’s far-right AfD party in Saxony-Anhalt, who was present at the Christmas market, described the experience as scary to Reuters. Rausch stated that he had not yet arrived at the market when “all of a sudden, we heard a muffled noise, an engine roaring.” He added, “People were screaming. It all happened in a fraction of a second.” After moving away from the immediate danger, Rausch mentioned he managed to film the police apprehending the suspect. During a news conference, local officials reported that citizens provided crucial first aid to the injured in the period preceding the arrival of emergency services. Heike Janke, a resident of Magdeburg, was at the Christmas market on Friday, departing around 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), approximately an hour before the incident. “We could have been hit,” Ms Janke conveyed to Reuters while lighting a candle for the victims. She expressed her dismay at the events, stating, “somehow you just can’t believe it.” Numerous other local residents joined her, bringing flowers and candles to a church situated close to the attack site. Corinna Pagels, a local resident and an employee of a counselling organization, mentioned that she had visited the market earlier on Friday. She emphasized that the community’s recovery process begins immediately. Pagels stated, “Of course, it gets to you and we also need to process things and thankfully we have a good network and are also there to provide aftercare for rescue workers and firefighters and support them in the aftermath. So the real work starts now.”