Tributes have poured in following the tragic death of a 9-year-old boy in the recent attack at a German Christmas market.
The young victim, remembered by his mother as her “little teddy bear,” tragically lost his life, along with four women, when a driver deliberately drove into the bustling crowd.
The boy, André Gleißner, who dreamed of becoming a firefighter, was among the victims of last Friday’s horrifying attack. The incident, which unfolded in Magdeburg, left over 200 people injured, with at least 41 in critical condition, when a black BMW SUV barreled through the crowd, covering 400 meters (437 yards) of the market.
“Let my little teddy bear fly around the world again. André didn’t do anything to anybody. He was only with us on Earth for nine years. Why you? Just why?” André’s mother, Désirée, said, according to The Telegraph.
The Lower Saxony youth fire brigade stated, “We are particularly saddened by the loss of such a young life from our own ranks. André, 9 years old and a committed member of the Warle children’s fire brigade in the Braunschweig district, was taken from his life by this senseless act.”
Families of the victims, along with emergency workers and government officials, gathered at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday evening for a memorial service.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the service, where he described the incident as a “dreadful tragedy,” the BBC reported. “So many people were injured and killed with such brutality in a place that is supposed to be joyful.”
City officials have been inundated with messages of support and tributes to the young boy and the other victims, according to local media. Residents have been seen placing candles and flowers at the cathedral and other public spaces, honoring the lives lost and supporting the families affected by the tragedy.
Witnesses recounted the horrifying moments of the attack, sharing how they jumped out of the driver’s path, fled, or hid to survive the onslaught.
“I saw blood on the floor as well as many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries,” Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s “World Tonight.”
The suspected attacker, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen, arrived in Germany in 2006 and worked as a doctor. He is being questioned by authorities.
Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens stated that the investigation is ongoing but suggested that the motive “could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany.” He added that al-Abdulmohsen is expected to be charged with murder and attempted murder in due course.
Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, indicated that preliminary investigations suggest the suspect acted alone, according to DW. “The places that the perpetrator used were the emergency access routes and the emergency exits,” Haseloff was quoted as saying.
Read the complete story at ChristianPost.com.
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