AILSA CHANG, HOST:
At least two people are dead, and more than 60 injured, after a car plowed into a Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg, in eastern Germany. Local authorities say the driver has been apprehended. Joining us now is reporter Rebecca Collard in Berlin. Hi, Rebecca.
REBECCA COLLARD: Hello.
CHANG: So at this point, what do we know about what exactly happened today?
COLLARD: So what we know from the local state premier, Reiner Haseloff, is that the suspect is a 50-year-old doctor of Saudi Arabian origin who's been living in Germany since 2006. And, you know, German TV has been showing this video of his arrest, which shows these policemen pointing a gun at a car and yelling and, like, rapidly swarming it. But there's really still no confirmation that this was actually an attack, though police say the car drove some 400 yards through the market. And at least one city official has said that this is being treated as a terrorist attack. And while the premier said at least two people were killed, he also warned that the number of injured and dead could rise even further, given the seriousness of this incident and the seriousness of the injuries.
CHANG: I mean, hasn't this kind of thing happened before at a Christmas market in Germany?
COLLARD: Yeah, exactly. You know, in 2006, a man drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market here in Berlin, and that attack is very much etched in the mind of Berliners. So, you know, just yesterday, there was a commemoration ceremony here to remember the 13 people who died as a result of that attack. And in that case, the driver of the car - the attacker - was a Tunisian man. He was shot dead a few days later after a manhunt that led to Italy. And, you know, that attack was claimed by the Islamic State. But again, it's still really not clear if this was terrorism, but the memories of that attack, of course, on a Christmas market eight years ago are definitely on people's minds...
CHANG: Sure.
COLLARD: ..As they're hearing this news today.
CHANG: Sure. I mean, what kind of reaction has there been so far to this attack today?
COLLARD: Well, I think, first of all, big questions about security - you know, after that 2016 attack, Germany really ramped up security around Christmas markets. So there's questions about, you know, how could this have happened at all? And I can tell you, I was at a Christmas market here in Berlin two weeks ago, so we're talking about well before Christmas, and it was already packed. There were metal barriers up at the entrances to the market but, other than that, not really a lot of visible security. And I will also say that even though police have not confirmed this was an attack at all, German media and pundits here are already talking about what this is going to mean for a very contentious debate about immigration here because we've had several attacks carried out recently by immigrants and asylum-seekers in Germany.
CHANG: That is reporter Rebecca Collard in Berlin. Thank you, Rebecca.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOLLY HAMMAR SONG, "SHORTCUTS (I CAN'T WAIT)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.