The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he was “horrified” by the attack and “we stand with the people of Germany”. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was “profoundly shocked” by the attack an that he “shares the pain of the German people”.

The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wrote that “the anticipation of a peaceful Christmas was suddenly interrupted” in the attack but cautioned that “the background to the terrible deed has yet been clarified”.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said his “thoughts are with the victims and their families”. He was due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday along with the interior minister, Nancy Faeser, their spokespeople said.

Saudi Arabia condemned the attack, with its ministry of foreign affairs saying the kingdom expressed its “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims”.

Hospitals within a 80km (50-mile) radius of Magdeburg were geared up to take patients, while all the region’s emergency helicopters were deployed to the area. Magdeburg’s University hospital said it was treating 10 to 20 patients and preparing for more, German press agency dpa reported. Emergency services said the number of injured might be as high as 80.

A police operation was also under way in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect is believed to have lived, local newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reported.

Police cleared an area around the vehicle after the incident to investigate a possible explosive device, according to local broadcaster MDR, which later cited police as saying no such device had been found.

Emergency workers were seen treating victims on the ground at the market, surrounded by blood. Makeshift tents were erected at the site. Witnesses reported hearing cries and screams. The operator of a food stall at the market described the scenes as “reminiscent of a war”.

The suspect was identified as Taleb A. He had been living in Germany since 2006, Haseloff said. The man, a consultant for psychiatry and psychotherapy, was recognised as a refugee in 2016. “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator,” Haseloff said. “So that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city.”

Police have arrested a 50-year-old medical doctor from Saudi Arabia who they believe is responsible for the attack, according to the German state premier, Reiner Haseloff, who was on his way to Magdeburg, and described it as “a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas”.

A dark BMW drove straight into the crowd at speed at the market, witnesses were reported as saying, while apparent videos of the ramming were posted on social media.

At least two people have been killed and 68 injured after a driver ploughed a car into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg on Friday evening. Fifteen people were left in a critical condition and a small child was among the fatalities, authorities said, in what local officials were describing as a terror attack.

(Source: The Guardian)