President Shavkat Mirziyoyev sent condolences message to the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier over the victims and injured in the Magdeburg tragedy, Mirziyoyev’s spokesman Asadov said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev conveyed words of sincere sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, as well as wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.

On Friday evening, a black BMW drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg. According to Reuters, more than 200 people were injured, 40 of them seriously. Initially, two people were reported dead. By Saturday morning, the death toll had risen to five, including a child.

According to preliminary information, the collision was deliberate, with a Saudi Arabian driver behind the wheel. He was immediately detained, his motives are unknown.

The suspect is 50-year-old psychiatrist Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, who worked in a neighboring city. He came to Germany in 2006 as a visiting doctor to obtain a qualification as a psychotherapist, and then asked for asylum here, since he was threatened with death for abandoning Islam. The man has the status of a political refugee, the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported.

Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Rainer Haseloff called the incident "a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the entire nation."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared "the solidarity of all of Germany" with the residents of Magdeburg and thanked the emergency services.

"Of course, we now need to clearly understand the perpetrator, his actions and motives in order to respond to this with the necessary criminal measures," DW quotes Scholz as saying. He recalled that the attack took place “almost on the anniversary” of the terrorist attack on the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin on December 19, 2016.

“We must stay united as a country,” the German Chancellor urged. “We must not allow our attitude towards each other to be determined by hatred. We are a society that strives for a common future. We must not give way to those who want to sow hatred. But we must not let criminals go unprosecuted. We must act to the fullest extent of the law to protect our unity and our common future.”