A memorial service was held at the cathedral in Magdeburg, a city rocked by the deadly incident.
Germans gathered in Magdeburg to remember the victims of a car ramming attack in the eastern city that left at least five people dead and 200 injured.
Officials say a medic drove his car into a busy outdoor Christmas market on Friday night, killing four adults and a 9-year-old child and seriously injuring 41 others, with the death toll likely to rise further. Ta.
At 7:04pm (18:04 GMT) on Saturday, church bells rang across the city at the exact time of the attack the night before.
The memorial service was held at the city’s cathedral, mainly for relatives of the victims, as well as first responders and invited guests, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Those who were not allowed to attend the service gathered outside the church and watched the service on a large screen.
Hundreds of people gathered in the city’s central square, some laying flowers and lighting candles.
Some in the crowd carried banners with far-right slogans.
The riots shocked the German city of about 240,000 people, 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin.
This has led several other parts of Germany to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.
Berlin kept many markets open but increased its police presence.
The search for motive continues
The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi immigrant who described himself as a critical Islamist activist, surrendered to police at the scene.
Prosecutor Horst Walter Noppens said at a press conference that the suspect is being investigated on five counts of murder and 205 counts of attempted murder.
Investigators are looking into whether the attack may have been prompted by a doctor’s dissatisfaction with Germany’s treatment of Saudi refugees, Noppens said.
Police have not released the suspect’s name, but German news outlets identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he is an expert in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Posts on the suspect’s X account seen by Reuters suggested he supported anti-Islam parties and far-right parties such as Alternative for Germany.
A Saudi official told the agency that Saudi Arabia had alerted German authorities about the suspect after he posted “extremist” views on the X account that threatened peace and security.
A risk assessment carried out last year by German state and federal criminal investigators concluded that the man “posed no particular danger,” Welt newspaper reported, citing security sources.
Germany has been hit by a number of attacks in recent years, including a knife attack at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August that left three people dead and eight injured.
Friday’s attack also comes eight years after a man drove a truck into Berlin’s crowded Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a gunfight in Italy.
