A Ukrainian woman is in serious condition after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on the evening of Dec. 20. The incident has claimed five lives and left over 200 people injured, many of them critically.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the woman's nationality on Dec. 21. "Among the victims of the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg is a Ukrainian citizen born in 1972. She is in a serious condition in a German hospital."
Ukrainian consular officials are coordinating with the hospital to provide necessary assistance to the injured woman, according to the ministry.
Authorities in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, reported that the driver believed to be acting alone, was detained shortly after the attack. Investigators are treating the case as premeditated murder and attempted murder.
German media identified the suspect as a Saudi Arabian who reportedly sympathized with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Magdeburg's City official Ronni Krug expressed the community’s sorrow and shock over the car-ramming attack that left at least five people dead and over 200 injured. "We have been deeply shaken by yesterday’s car-ramming attack," and added that no one in the city’s administration "slept well" following the tragedy.
Krug also announced the closure of Magdeburg’s Christmas market in light of the Dec. 20 fatal incident for reasons that are "self-explanatory," he added.
Martina Sapio
