dealfor three months. the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere is welcomed at stonehenge. hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start in germany where a suspect has been arrested after at least two people, including a child, have been killed and nearly 70 others injured when a car was driven into crowds at a busy christmas market. the incident happened in the city of magdeburg, which is around 150km west of berlin at around 7.00pm friday night local time. the car hit the crowded area at high speed and is said to have travelled for around 400 metres. footage from the german broadcaster mdr shows armed police arresting a man at the scene. you can see the armed officer.

the man is on the floor by the car on the left hand side of the screen. the suspect man is a 50—year—old saudi national who has lived in germany for 18 years. the authorities say he worked as a doctor, had no criminal record and no known links to extremism. officers at the scene initially feared he might have had an explosive device, but in the last few hours german media reported that no explosives were found in the car. this is the scene live now in magdeburg, where it isjust after 11.00 in the morning. the german leader, chancellor 0laf scholz, is expected to arrive there very shortly. the entire area around the market is still cordoned off.

police in the city have set up a hotline for any information about the attack. a memorial service will be held in the city's cathedral at 7.00pm local time. planned cultural events, including theatrical productions, have been cancelled for the next few days. magdeburg's city councillor for public order has told local media the christmas market will stay closed and that "christmas in magdeburg is over". security is being increased at other markets in germany including in the capital berlin. we'll hear from our correspondent at the scene shortly, but first this report is from nickjohnson.

crying. cries punctuate the sense of terror and bewilderment at magdeburg's christmas market. passers—by tend to the injured. moments beforehand, the market had been teeming with people enjoying the atmosphere in the days before christmas. footage, which is too graphic to broadcast, appears to show a car deliberately driving at speed into dozens of people between market stalls. emergency services arrived to help those in any way they can. makeshift tents were put up to treat those at the scene. hospitals in the area were told to prepare for a mass casualty event. dorin was at a concert nearby.

we are shaking, and we are full of sympathy for the relatives. we hope nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances. we heard the police sirens, which went on for so long. we had to assume something terrible had happened. it's a dark day for magdeburg. yelling. shortly after the attack, police detained the driver, who the german interior ministry say is a 50—year—old doctor, originally from saudi arabia and had been a resident in germany for 18 years. authorities say around 70 people have been injured, some of them seriously. translation: this is a terrible tragedy. - it's a catastrophe for the city of magdeburg and for germany in general. for this to happen at a christmas market is hard to comprehend. the german chancellor 0laf scholz is expected to visit the scene later and in a post on x, said...

following their bundesliga match, bayern munich hotel their on pitch christmas ceremony and asking the crowd and players for a moment of silence in its place. this isn't the first time people have been killed by a vehicle at a christmas market in germany. in 2016, a man with islamist links crashed into a market in berlin, killing 12 people. magdeburg's annual christmas market draws tourists from near and far. this post on its social media page describes the market as a paradise for children. the scene late last night painted a very different picture, the city and the country forced to come to terms with what's happened. nickjohnson, bbc news. the survivors compelled to live

with what they have seen and experienced. and this is the scene currently in magdeburg, where it is coming up to 11:08am. there is a deserted scene at the christmas market there. that was the scene of there. that was the scene of the deadly attack on friday night. we are expecting the german leader, chancellor 0laf scholz, to visit the scene shortly. i should also say that flags in the city are flying at half mast this morning. there is also going to be a memorial service in the cathedral in the city a little bit later. as i mentioned, one of the city councillors in the last hour talking to the local media there, saying christmas in magdeburg is over. 0bviously, magdeburg is over. obviously, this christmas market is going to stay shut. if you have ever

been to germany around this time of the year, you will know that in most cities and towns there is some form of christmas market, and we already know that markets in berlin, leipzig and also other cities, they are increasing security because of what has happened in magdeburg on friday night. 0ur correspondent dmaien mcguinness is in magdeburg. i spoke to him a little earlier. well, this morning it is sombre, sad, people are milling around, looking at the site behind me, where the attack happened. and indeed, officials are describing this as an attack. what we can surmise from what we have seen, and having talked to people here, is that the car drove along this main road beside me, and then swerved into the christmas market, ploughing through the crowds who were enjoying a festive drink.

the car drove through a gap in the concrete blocks. all christmas markets in germany are surrounded by concrete blocks since a terrible attack in 2016 where a lorry killed 12 people, so security traditionally is quite high at christmas markets in germany since that attack, but of course, not high enough because here the security around the christmas market, there was a gap in those concrete blocks, which was wide enough for the car to drive through. of course, the big question is, who is the suspect and why did he carry out this terrible attack we are now getting information about who this man appears to be and it is a complex picture. a 50—year—old saudi doctor, look for a long time in germany, has been working here, apparently well integrated because of having worked as a doctor so must speak good german. of course, a lot of people have beenjumping to the conclusion this could be an islamist extremist attack as that is what has happened in the past, but it could be

exactly the opposite. there is no evidence to say that is the case, and looking at his comments online and in the media in the past, he has given interviews to a prominent german newspaper, where he was highly critical of islam, saying there is "no such thing as a good islam". and also supportive of the far right afd here in germany. so, a complex picture, and very much not the profile of the attackers in previous such atrocities. i think that is what is making this tragic incident so confusing for people to understand and get their heads around because the motivation is very unclear. interestingly, authorities came out very quickly to say that it was a saudi man that was a suspect. that's right, and until relatively recently you would never in the media and from police statements, you would never talk about the

nationality of a suspect. it was seen as legally not acceptable and morally reprehensible. that all changed a couple of years ago when officials very quickly started releasing information about nationalities and backgrounds of suspects in order to undermine conspiracy theories about what was behind such attacks. in this particular case he does seem to be a saudi national who has lived in germany for a long time. the authorities are also very aware that there have been a lot of conspiracy theories flying around throughout the night, particularly on social media, talking about other potential attacks, talking about other people he was associated with who are also on the run, and all of that was incorrect. i think that is why, as you say, police and officials have been very quick to release any information they have about the suspect, and about what exactly happened

because the difficulty is with such attacks, in the past they have had an impact on the political debate in germany, and of we have quite a febrile political mood here because the governing coalition collapsed in november and in february we have snap elections, and lots of people don't know who to vote for, and there is concern that the far right will make this incident into a political football and will try and win votes on the back of what is frankly a tragedy for people here in magdeburg. there you can see the scene, there's a lot of people gathering and it looks like security as well. the reason is that the german leader, chancellor 0laf scholz, is due to arrive there very shortly stop i am not sure if that is

the back of his head, it is hard to tell. it does look like there are people gathering their in the area. i am just going to bring you a breaking line that we are just getting in, and this is that the german public service broadcaster, who is ard, is now saying that the death toll has risen to four, so i should say that the bbc, we have not confirmed this ourselves, but ard, the german public service broadcaster, the equivalent of the bbc in germany, is now saying that the number of people who have died has risen to four. they are also reporting that over 200 people have been injured. that is a significant increase from the earlierfigure of is a significant increase from the earlier figure of over 60. however, we should point out at the moment that we are not yet

sure how serious those injuries are. again, iwouldjust sure how serious those injuries are. again, i would just repeat this news that is coming to us from the german state broadcaster ard. they are now reporting that the number of people who have died in this incident and this christmas market in the city of magdeburg has risen to four, and crucially, over 200 people have been injured. that is a lot higher than the earlier figure that we had of 60, but again, we should say that at the moment we do not know how serious those injuries are. we knew that there were a number of people who were in hospital with serious injuries, but we don't know if that new 200 figure that ard are reporting,

how serious those are. i should say that ard are saying that they have learned these figures from security circles, that is how they describe it. as the bbc, we have not yet managed to talk to the authorities to confirm that. we said we did not know how many were seriously injured, ard have just this second reported that 41 are seriously injured. 80 are slightly injured. ard again saying that 41 are seriously injured. the pictures that you can see, we have got two different shots there are of the german leader, chancellor 0laf scholz, who are now approaching this area to look at the area that was the scene of this incident last night.

there we can see them moving quite slowly into this area which, as i have said, has been cordoned off by the police in the german city of magdeburg. we now know, according to the german broadcaster ard, that at least four people were killed and more than 200 were injured, many of them seriously. they are now saying 41 were seriously injured. 80 are described as slightly injured but the total number is more than 200. you can see that party there, the leaders from that area coming in. we know that area coming in. we know that buildings in magdeburg and the surrounding state are flying their flags at half mast. there is going to be a memorial service in the

cathedral in the city a little later. the suspected attacker is a 50—year—old saudi born man, who was arrested. 0f man, who was arrested. of course, investigators are now trying to establish a motive. he himself had made posts on social media that were critical of islam. there you can see the german leader and a group of other people, walking through the market where this car drove at high speed on friday night, at high speed on friday night, at about 7pm in the evening, and as i mentioned a little earlier, these christmas markets in germany are packed with people around this time of year. many of them take place in cities and towns across germany, and this is the scene of this devastating incident, where four people are now known, according to ard, to have lost their lives. the camera, of course, in all of

these events moves around as they try to follow people around. 0f they try to follow people around. of course, the security services will be tightly controlling where the media can 90, controlling where the media can go, so you can see that there is the area, and obviously when this happened because people just fled that area, you can see the rubbish that is on the floor there. see the rubbish that is on the floorthere. i mentioned floor there. i mentioned earlier that floorthere. i mentioned earlier that one of the city councillors, who exactly responsible for public order in that area, was talking to one of the local broadcasters and confirmed that this christmas market is going to stay closed, but also the quote that really stood out to me was "christmas in magdeburg is over those quotes. that was the quote from this city councillor who is responsible for public order in this area. we have also heard that things like theatre events and cinema have been cancelled for the next couple of days as

the city comes to terms, tries to come to terms with what has happened. the police, of course, are appealing for witnesses to come forward with any more information about this attack. they have posted on social media to the local people, saying that if they have got any photographs or videos of the events then they can be posted through a portal that they have set up. we should say that there is on social media a video of the reported incident, which is far too graphic to show, but it does show that vehicle travelling at high speed through that large crowds that had gathered at the christmas market. in the centre of the screen you can see chancellor 0laf scholz still walking around this area. we are expecting him to address the media a little later, once he has finished looking at the scene there. it is also, of

course, so awful for the scene there. it is also, of course, so awfulfor the people there, so a helpline has been set up for anyone of those people who has relatives trying to get any information. city officials also advising people to avoid the area. you can already see that people are bringing flowers to that area. there is going to be a service this evening at 7pm, where the community will be able to come together to remember the people who died, and who were injured. flowers are being brought, i don't know whether this is the cathedral that is in the city, but obviously it is a church of some description, where there are some flowers being left to mark those who were hurt. as i

say, the chancellor has been looking at those, and we expect him to address the crowd a little later. notjust german media there, but media from around the world. world media there, but media f