'...What World We're Living in': German Christmas Market Attack Survivors Recount Horror

Berlin: Shocked survivors described the harrowing moment when a car attack on Friday transformed a festive Christmas market in eastern Germany into a scene of devastation, leaving two dead and injuring 60.

The bustling market, centered around a towering Christmas tree in Magdeburg, was crowded with families when a BMW plowed through the area around 7 p.m. (1800 GMT).

"We didn't hear the car," Nadine, a 32-year-old visitor from western Germany, told Bild daily. She had come to experience the famed market in the historic old town square. "I was holding my..." she trailed off, overcome with emotion. She said she was holding her 39-year-old boyfriend Marco in her arms when "he was torn from my side" by the SUV that careened through the crowd for 400 meters.

Later, as over 100 emergency responders swarmed the chaotic scene, Nadine expressed her despair. Her partner had been taken to an unknown hospital. "The uncertainty is unbearable," she said. Authorities confirmed that two people, including a child, had died, and over 60 others were injured.

Police arrested a suspect, identified as a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor. Although no extremist group claimed responsibility, Islamic State supporters celebrated the attack online with messages such as "Merry Christmas, unbeliever," according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

Local newspaper Volkstimme reported eyewitness accounts describing the car zig-zagging through the market, seemingly targeting as many people as possible.

'Sick world'

A bystander told Welt TV that in the aftermath, "everyone was lying on the ground — children, men, injured. It's unimaginable."

Another eyewitness recounted: "It's terrible. The whole time, there was a dead body lying next to me. I thought I was just going to enjoy a Christmas market, and then this happens. The world is sick."

With inputs from AFP.