Britons have spoken out about their feelings of safety at Christmas markets following Friday’s deadly attack in Magdeburg, Germany.
The comments as Germany mourns the loss of five lives after a car rammed into a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening.
One visitor told GB News: “I was in Strasbourg or where they have a very large Christmas market a few weeks ago, and the entry to the main part of the city was very heavily guarded.
“That’s the world we live in and we have to do what we can with it.”
One person said that armed guards don’t faze him
GB News
“I think it’s quite safe. I’m quite capable of looking after myself,” another market-goer said.
A third person reflected: “How did we get here? I don’t know, it’s just the world, isn’t it? And bad things that are happening in the world, sadly.”
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Five people, including a nine-year-old child, were killed and more than 200 injured in the attack.
A black BMW drove at high speed for at least 400 metres across the market in the city’s central town hall square.
Nearly 40 of the injured remain in critical condition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed.
German authorities arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany since 2006 and worked at a clinic near Magdeburg.
Five people, including a nine-year-old child, were killed
GB News
The suspect, identified in German media as Taleb A, held a permanent residence permit.
According to German media, the suspect described himself as a “Saudi atheist” and had expressed increasingly radical anti-Islam views online.
He had accused previous German governments of planning to “Islamise Europe” and claimed he was being targeted by authorities.
Saudi Arabia said they warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his X account that threatened peace and security.
Brits shared their concerns
GB News
The market remained cordoned off on Saturday with red and white tape, as armed officers guarded every entrance.
Thermal security blankets still lay on the street.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the attack site on Saturday, accompanied by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and regional politicians.
“There is no more peaceful and cheerful place than a Christmas market,” Scholz said. “What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality.”