Fears grow of ‘copycat’ Christmas market attack after five killed in Germany
Share:
Fears are mounting of a ‘copycat’ attack in Europe after a BMW rammed into one of Germany’s famed Christmas markets, killing five people and injuring more than 200. Greater Manchester Police and Hampshire Police today issued a warning to members of the public following the events in Magdeburg last night.
![[Employees of a Christmas market remove chocolate fruits from a stall as police officers guard in Magdeburg]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233925287-d25a.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Chris Phillips, the former head of Britain’s counter terrorism security office, also stressed that people should remain on high alert in the coming days. ‘It is concerning that this has taken place and what we’re concerned about is copycats and we might have another one,’ he told GB News.
![[Debris a closed stalls are seen as a police officers stand on the site of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, on December 21, 2024, resulting in several deaths and dozens of injured. German media reports that the death toll has risen to four over night and up to 200 injured in the attack on December 20th. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP) (Photo by RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233922256-8adf.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. ‘If you do see something, report suspicious behaviour, this is advice given out by police this week. Or even better, report the people who are perhaps going off the rails.’.
![[Co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Tino Chrupalla (R), lays flowers among well-wishers near the site of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, on December 21, 2024. The death toll in the attack on December 20, rose to 5 on December 21, 2024, with over 200 injured, according to the head of the regional government, Reiner Haseloff. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP) (Photo by RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233924857-4374.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Phillips added that the government should still allow Christmas markets to go ahead otherwise the ‘terrorists have won’. German authorities have responded to the threat by increasing the police presence at festive events in Berlin. The city’s interior minister Iris Spranger said on X: ‘The security authorities are in close contact with each other.
