Sixth victim dies after German Christmas market attack: prosecutors

BERLIN: The number of deaths from a car ramming attack at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg in December has risen to six, prosecutors said Monday (Jan. 6).

A 52-year-old woman died in hospital from injuries sustained in the attack, prosecutors in the nearby town of Naumburg said.

A black BMW drove through the traditional market on December 20, running over and scattering bodies among the festive stalls.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 299 people were injured in the attack.

A Saudi psychiatric doctor, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, was arrested at the scenebut the motive of the alleged attacker is still unclear.

Abdulmohsen had expressed in many online posts strongly anti-Islam views, anger against German authorities, and support for far-right conspiracy narratives about the “Islamization” of Europe.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said there were signs the suspect was suffering from a psychiatric illness.

The attack occurred two months before the general elections in Germany. It has reignited a heated debate over security and immigration after several deadly knife attacks last year blamed on Islamist extremists.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party, currently in second place in the polls, held what it called a rally in memory of the victims and demanded that Germany “The borders must be closed”.