ReutersA woman with her boyfriend at the Christmas market in Magdeburg told local media that she was holding her boyfriend in her arms when the car used in the attack drove towards them.
Nadine, 32, told Bild newspaper: “He was beaten and pulled away from me. It’s terrible.”
Footage posted by German media shows a black car crashing into a crowd of people at high speed and continuing to rush forward hundreds of meters.
Nadine’s boyfriend reportedly suffered injuries to his legs and head.
Another witness, Gianni Warzecha, told the BBC that he was listening to Christmas music at the market with his girlfriend’s family when “suddenly there was a rumble and the sound of glass breaking”.
“People started to panic,” he said. “I saw the car and people lying on the floor, many people bleeding. There are also children.
“I’m focusing on giving first aid to everyone. It took a few minutes for the first medical team to arrive, but it was still not enough because 200 people were injured.
“Most of the first aid is done by the people there.”
Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for public broadcaster MDR who went to the Christmas market in Magdeburg shortly after the attack, told the BBC about what he saw.
“There were ambulances everywhere, police, lots of firefighters.
“This was really a chaotic situation. We saw blood on the floor, we saw people sitting next to each other and there were gold and silver leaves all around. We saw many doctors trying to keep everyone warm.” people and help the injured.
“It was a big shock. It was a big shock for everyone in Magdeburg and everyone in Saxony-Anhalt.”
Tobias Rausch, who was at the Christmas market and serves as general secretary of Germany’s far-right AfD party in Saxony-Anhalt, told Reuters it was scary.
Rausch said he had not yet arrived at the market when “suddenly, we heard a muffled noise, the roar of an engine.”
“Everyone was screaming. It all happened in less than a second.”
After escaping danger, Rausch said he was able to film the moment police arrested the suspect.
Local officials said at a press conference that residents provided emergency first aid to the injured before rescuers arrived at the scene.
ReutersA Magdeburg resident, Heike Janke, was at the Christmas market on Friday and left around 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), about an hour before the attack.
“We could have been hit,” Ms. Janke told Reuters as she lit candles for those involved in the tragedy. She said she felt horrified by what had happened, “somehow you just can’t believe it”.
She, along with many other locals, brought flowers and candles to a church near where the attack occurred.
Corinna Pagels, a local resident and employee of a consulting organization, said she went to the market herself early Friday morning. She said community healing begins now.
“Of course, it’s up to you and we need to handle things as well and luckily we have a good network and are also available to provide aftercare for rescue workers and firefighters as well like supporting them then. So the real work starts now.”
