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giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" >> welcome to the program. i'm lewis vaughan jones. we start with breaking news from

germany. these are the latest pictures we have. these are the scenes of a christmas market there in magdeburg. reports, a car has been driven into crowds of shoppers there at that christmas market. news agencies reporting potentially dozens of people injured. at least one person killed. we are getting details from broadcasters in germany as well as newsagencies. you can see the scale of the emergency response in these pictures, ambulance after ambulance taking people away to local hospital for treatment. with me is my colleague samantha simmonds. talk us through what we know so far, what has happened here. samantha: about an hour or so ago this news had broken that a car had broken through this christmas market in magdeburg, according to a german broadcaster, other local media.

they said in the past few moments that the afp news agency has said this car incident is assumed to be an attack, according to the regional interior ministry. we've been talking over the past hour here on bbc news, disgusting weather we don't know this was an accident or deliberate attack. the regional interior minister is saying they assume this to be an attack. there are reports that at least one person has been killed and several injured. that number is also ranging from several to between 60 and 80. that is according to the afp news agency. we don't have verify details on any of this at the moment, lots of speculation on social media, where indeed, there is footage of the moments this incident unfolded. we are not going to show it because it has not been verified and is also extremely distressing.

you see a car driving at speed into a group of people at this christmas market. you can understand this figure of possibly being quoted of 60 to 80 people possibly being injured. you see a huge emergency presence there, police on the streets, ambulances, emergency crews. this will be a huge logistical operation for those hoping to assist those injured. i witnesses telling broadcasters that the car and drove straight into the crowd. they said in the direction of the town hall. police, local government spokespersons not immediately available to comment because they have to deal with the unfolding situation. just in the past few minutes, the afp news agency citing the regional interior minister saying they assume this to be an attack. there has also been one arrest we understand. we don't know if police are looking for anyone else in relation to this. lewis: thank you for that

significant development in the last few minutes, confirmation that the working assumption seems to be that it is an attack rather than an accident or a driver losing control of their vehicle. that was one of the questions we've been asking over the last hour or so. let's take a quick look if we can about where this is happening, a sense of the geography there in germany. this is about one hour or so away, 100 50 kilometers away from berlin. you can see berlin in the east. one hundred miles away is the town of magdeburg. in the heart of that christmas market, which would have been hugely busy given the time of year, christmas just a few days away. christmas markets like this, a very strong tradition in germany, hugely populated, busy place right now on this friday evening. the car driven, it seems, at the

moment, according to officials, the working assumption, that this was driven in deliberately. an attack rather than an accident. we are working to get more clarification and more details on that. that is the latest from the news agencies there. samantha, this is not the first time we have seen a christmas market attacked in germany. samantha: in fact, this incident, possible attack comes on the day, eight years ago, the same day, the 19th of december 2016 when a truck was driven into the berlin christmas market. many people may remember that, a shocking incident, terror attack which left 12 people dead, seven victims. the driver was found shot dead in the truck. the perpetrator of that attacked it years ago was a tunisian national inspired by islamic state propaganda. he was killed four days after

the attack by police who found him in italy. this event was classified as a terrorist attack. there have also been several terrorist attacks in germany in the past year. in fact, two islamist extremist attacks, one in mannheim, one in saul and them. foiled plots in germany this year back on the 23rd of august this year. a man attacked people at a festival of diversity. three people were killed. eight others injured, four of them severely. the german authorities arrested a perpetrator there. he turned himself in and claimed responsibility for that attack. on the fifth of september, an 18-year-old was shot dead near the israeli consulate in munich after exchanging fire with police. the bavarian state police and prosecutors say they believe the individual was planning a terrorist attack involving the consulate.

a day later, a 20 nine-year-old conducted an attack against a police station. that is just some of the incidents that have happened in germany in the past few months. we know that german security has also been tightened as a result of this and in fact germany tightened its border controls. they did this, they said, in september to curb regular migrant inflows after a series of islamist attacks spark public anger and piled pressure on the government. we are still waiting for some kind of statement from the chancellor. in fact, i think we just had one in. german chancellor olaf scholz said in the past few moments, quoted on reuters, saying, the news suggest something bad. we are just waiting for more of what he said. he said, my thoughts are with

the victims and the families. the government, chancellor giving a response actually quite quickly. we have not had formal responses from the authorities, though, in magdeburg who are dealing with an unfolding situation. it appears, certainly from the reports we are getting on afp, the regional interior minister is assuming this to be an attack and therefore not an accident. lewis: samantha, let's run through if we can, just to be clear with people, what we know and what we don't know. one of the questions over the last hour was clearly if this was a deliberate attack or not. it seems to be the working assumption from authorities there in germany, is that it is. in terms of who is behind it, any possible motive, clearly we don't know that. in terms of the number of people killed and injured, talk us through what we know and what we

don't know about that. samantha: no actual, definite confirmation from the authorities but some 25 minutes or so ago, the reuters news agency quoted a local police officer as saying at least one person was killed and several injured. since then, we have not had an increase in the death toll but significant increase in the number of injured. no confirmation but the afp news agency suggesting a number of injured could be between 60 and 80 people, according to a spokesperson for the local rescue service who told him to the afp news agency. one would have to assume that is quite accurate. given the huge number of emergency personnel on the scene, ambulances, footers that we have seen -- and we are not showing the extremely distressing scenes of the car plowing into the people. but given the footage we have seen, that is possibly in the

right figures, 60 to 80 people injured. lewis: that would seem to mary up. the scale of the response here, the critical incident here is absolutely huge. that number, up to 80 people injured, would tally with that. worth repeating, these first comments we are getting from the german chancellor all the actuals on the incident there, saying -- olaf scholz, on the incident there, saying that his thoughts are with the families. the news suggests something bad. a more accurate translation, raises the worst fears. saying that the events at this christmas market both raises the worst fears. thoughts with the victims and the families. i suppose we will be awaiting

officials from the state level and federal level there in germany, as well as from emergency responders there at the scene, local hospitals, health agencies, town local officials, trying to bring us any details. so far, we are relying on what officials are saying to local media, broadcasters in the region. we have not had any on-camera statements from any officials. we are waiting for those. if you are just joining us here, what we understand thus far, a car has plowed into people at a very busy christmas market in magdeburg, this town in germany, about 150 kilometers away from berlin. just to the west of berlin. one report from a news agency in the region, between 60 and 80 people injured.

as you can see with these pictures, we have a huge number of ambulances, emergency services there around the christmas market. so far, reports of one death. we are waiting for any update on those figures. samantha: we also understand, according to some reports, the driver of the car has been arrested, according to the news agency dpa, citing unidentified government officials. it is not clear whether anyone else is being looked for but the driver of the car we understand -- has not been verified -- but thoughts are that this driver has been arrested. the christmas market manager told people to leave the city center immediately, according to the broadcaster mdr. we had a quote from the governor in the area who said this is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before christmas.

yes, lewis, christmas is five days away, so it would have been packed for people making the most of the opportunity to spend time together, enjoy the run up to christmas. schools would have broken up. a lot of people stopped working as well. german christmas markets, extremely popular, so it would have been extremely busy. lewis: let's take these life pictures now. these are some of the first live images we have of the scene. reinforcing that news that the initial assessment by authorities there is that the attack on the christmas market was an attack, was not a mistake, not a driver losing control. it seems a spokesperson for the city of magdeburg saying initial assessments. so the working assumption is that this was indeed an attack using a vehicle, a car hitting

people at that christmas market. that is an eerie scene. emergency responders walking into the shops there. just a couple hours ago, that was an incredibly busy, happy christmas market, bustling christmas market there in germany. a rich tradition in germany, these christmas markets. they are not just there, but they spread around the world, u.k., a huge part of the festive season. it seemed like there were a lot of people there. life pictures now showing a very different picture. people have left the scene. most fleeing the area but a great number, it seems, potentially being taken away by ambulances, emergency workers there to local hospitals. news agency reporting

potentially between 60 and 80 people injured. samantha: just a couple of lines in on the number of injuries and how hospitals will prepare for this. reuters is saying that there are numerous injured people, according to a spokesperson for the city of magdeburg, and all hospitals are preparing for mass casualty events in a not surprisingly. interestingly, i was just reading the interior ministers said last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to christmas markets this year, but said it was wise to be vigilant. today, the 19th of december, the anniversary eight years ago of the attack on the christmas market in berlin, when an extremist drove a truck into a crowd of christmas market goers, leaving 13 people dead, dozens more injured. in that incident, the attacker was killed days later in a shootout in italy. we understand from the reports

coming in, the driver of the car has been arrested by police, but we have not heard confirmation from authorities on that just yet. lewis: just reading here. as i said, we are waiting for the first on-camera statements from officials. they will be coming up at some point and we will bring those to you as soon as we have them here in the building, at bbc in london. in terms of an official response, we have those words on social media from the german chancellor olaf scholz expressing his thoughts and prayers, being with the family and the friends of those impacted. we stand by their side, side-by-side, people of magdeburg, the city in germany where this christmas market was being held. our thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.

that is the translation of that post by olaf scholz. the german chancellor on social media. other than that, we have been relying on local media and the news agencies to bring what few details we have. we have had one question answered in the last 10 minutes or so which was the working assumption of authorities, that this was an attack. of course, it looked like an attack with the scale of the response, scale of what happened there but we didn't have any confirmation at that stage. in the last hour, a car driven off course, some accident or awful accident, see mingly hitting a group of people, but the assumption now is that it was an attack using that car. in terms of motive for this attack, we still don't know.

the driver of the car, the identity of that person we don't know. we don't know if that person was acting on their own or with other people at the scene, people behind the scenes. all of those questions, of course, we will attempt to answer in the hours and days to come. for the moment, we are still trying to get to grips with some of the most basic information including the number of people involved here. we saw from pictures earlier on, it looked like a large number of potential people injured. pictures on social media appeared to show that but we have not verified those pictures, so we will not be showing them until we have verified them independently. we did have a news agency in germany report between 60 and 80 people injured in this incident, one person dead. we have not had any update on those figures. we do know now that local

hospitals are preparing for a mass casualty event. that is the spokesperson from the city of magdeburg where this happened, saying all hospitals are preparing for a mass casualty event. as for the city of magdeburg, these are the life pictures we have of that christmas market that a couple of hours ago was busy full of people getting their last-minute shopping done. now it is eerily silent, empty. people being asked to leave the area, understandably. many unfortunately not being able to leave on their own but being taken to hospital. let's take a look at where this happened again in germany, if you are just joining us. this is an area just to the west of berlin. it is about 100 miles west of berlin, 150 kilometers west of berlin. magdeburg.

we have been relying on the information from local broadcasters working through the various states in germany. it's a federal system, you have different states, media, local authorities, as well as federal authorities. we have not heard on camera yet from anyone. we are waiting to bring that to you when we do. let's speak now to the eu counterterror expert, international security and policing professor at the university of south wales. thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me. lewis: could i get your initial thoughts, initial response? >> this is very clearly a horrific attack on a symbol of the christmas time period, it christmas market attack in magdeburg. there are likely to be a number of people dead.

what has been confirmed so far in the german media is one person but speculations are much higher than that. possibly up to 10 or more people that have been killed. we don't know for sure but we know the attacker has been arrested. the background, there is some speculation about it in social media, so i don't want to comment on it yet, but it looks to be potentially an islamist attack. so it is a very worrying development. lewis: as you pointed out, we should underline, we don't have any confirmation of the type of attack or motive. that is yet unknown. we are working to establish that. could you talk us through the history here? an attack with a vehicle on a christmas market might be

bringing back some pretty dreadful memories for some watching. this has happened before. christian: yes, so this is not the first attack on a christmas market in germany. to this day, it is almost an anniversary of the berlin terror attack which happened on the 19th of december. now we are on the 20th. there has been also a number of plots in germany this year. notably, one plot that was foiled in the augsburg christmas market. that plot was foiled and didn't materialize. but we didn't know that christmas markets are a target -- did know that christmas markets are a target in germany. also in germany you have the start of an election campaign, so perhaps this is intended to affect the german election campaign. we just had the dissolution of the german parliament last week.

christmas markets, by their nature, they are targets. they are more difficult to protect because of the way in germany they are built up, the way that they are situated in the different towns and cities in germany. so this has known to be a target. unfortunately, it is very difficult to protect. lewis: again, if we could underline the fact, we don't know the background to this seeming attack at the moment. could you give us a bit of the background, some of the recent political tensions within the country? a bit of context about germany right now. christian: yes. so, the christmas markets have been used in a variety of different ways. just a couple days ago, there was not an attack, but there was

an incident, if you like, in stuttgart, germany, a couple days ago at the christmas market. it was used for the celebrations after the fall of assad. hundreds, almost thousands of syrians who were celebrating the fall of the assad regime. at the same time, the christmas markets were also a symbol, in the sense that when we had the attack in berlin, it was one of the first attacks in germany after the migration crisis we had in 2015-2016. this also happened at the time in december, the 19th of december. as such, they often became kind of a symbol for a possible attack. more recently, we had a number

of political developments in germany. firstly, we had the fall of the previous german government, the so-called traffic light coalition, social democrats together with the greens and liberals, decided to dissolve the coalition. as a result of that, we are going to have fresh elections in february of next year. in these elections are obviously in a heated environment. we have the russian war of aggression with ukraine. we have the israel-hamas conflict. we have the fall of the assad regime in syria. so there are a number of political developments that are all playing into the election campaign in germany. it is in this particular context that this attack is taking place, no doubt will have a

significant impact on the election campaign that we will see in germany over the next couple weeks. lewis: christian, thank you very much for that. could i ask you to stay there for a moment. i would love to come back to you a little later. just for people who are watching in the u.k. and around the world, these are the life pictures after a car has hit a number of people at a christmas market in germany. olaf scholz, the german chancellor, saying his thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. plenty more coverage on the website, on the bbc news announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation.

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