Many people were critically injured, Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, told reporters on Saturday. German media reported 41 critical injuries.

Haseloff told reporters on Friday that the suspect – who was arrested – was a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.

He said a preliminary investigation suggested the alleged attacker was acting as a lone wolf. He could not rule out further deaths due to the number of injured.

The suspected attacker’s motive is unclear, and he has no known links to Islamist extremism – social media and posts online appear to suggest he had been critical of Islam.

Footage from the scene shows numerous emergency services vehicles attending while people lay on the ground.

Further footage then emerged of armed police confronting and arresting a man who can be seen lying on the ground by a stationary vehicle.

Unverified video on social media purports to show a car ploughing into the crowd at the market.City officials said around 100 police, medics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue service personnel rushed to the scene.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who travelled to the city on Saturday, described the attack as a “dreadful tragedy” as “so many people were injured and killed with such brutality” in a place that is supposed to be “joyful”.

He told reporters that there were serious concerns for those who had been critically injured – which German media reports is in the dozens – and that “all resources” will be allocated to investigating the suspect behind the attack.

There would be a memorial service for the victims at the Magdeburg Cathedral later on Saturday, he added.

In an interview with German paper Bild, Nadine, described being at the Christmas market with her boyfriend, Marco, when the car came speeding towards them.

“He was hit and pulled away from my side,” the 32-year-old told the paper. “It was terrible.

“Meanwhile, Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight he saw “blood on the floor” as well as “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries”.

German media identified the suspect as Taleb A, a psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, around 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, he arrived in Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognised as a refugee.

He ran a website that aimed to help other former Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf homelands.

Evidenced by social media posts, the suspect is an outspoken critic of Islam, and has promoted conspiracy theories regarding a plot to seek Islamic supremacy in Europe.

When the incident occurred, Magdeburg’s football team were playing against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

After the game finished, the team’s players united in a line in front of their supporters. A statement from the club said its “thoughts are with those affected by the terrible events and the Magdeburg Christmas market”.

Meanwhile, a minute’s silence was held at the end of a match between Bayern and RB Leipzig in Munich.

Friday’s incident is not the first time people at a Christmas market have been attacked in Germany.

In 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who failed to gain asylum in Germany and had links to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, drove a truck into crowds gathered at a church market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 49 others.

Two years later, a gunman opened fire on a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, killing five and injuring another 11 people. The gunman was shot dead by police two days later.

Only last month, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser talked about the need for “greater vigilance” at the highly popular markets – but said there were no “concrete” indications of danger.

She also reportedly pointed to tougher laws on weapons in public spaces following a knife attack in Solingen, west Germany, in August in which three people died – an incident which reignited an already fraught debate on asylum and migration in Germany.

The fire department in Minas Gerais state, which responded to the crash near the town of Lajinha early on Saturday, said “between 32 and 35 people” were killed.

It said earlier that 13 people were taken to hospitals near the city of Teofilo Otoni.The bus had reportedly departed from Sao Paulo and was carrying 45 passengers.

Authorities said the bus blew a tyre, causing the driver to lose control and collide with the truck. A car also collided with the bus, but all three of its passengers survived, according to the fire department.

All victims have been removed from the site, and an investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the accident, authorities said.

Governor Romeu Zema wrote on X that he ordered “full mobilisation” of the Minas Gerais government to assist survivors and families of the victims.

“We are working to ensure that families of the victims are supported to face this tragedy in the most humane way possible, especially as it comes just before Christmas,” Zema said.

According to Globo, a Brazilian media outlet, the truck driver fled the scene and is being sought by police.

According to the Federal Highway Police, the highway where the accident occurred was the deadliest in the country in 2023 with 559 deaths recorded, Globo reported.

In 2024, more than 10,000 people died in traffic accidents in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

In September, a bus carrying the Coritiba Crocodiles football team flipped on a road and killed three people.The team from the southern city of Curitiba was headed to a game in Rio de Janeiro, which was cancelled after the accident.