News agency dpa said the driver has been arrested following the incident in the eastern city of Magdeburg, while AFP news agency reports 60-80 people have also been injured.
A city spokesman said the initial assessment is that this was an attack, with all hospitals in the nearby city of Halle preparing for a mass casualty event, according to a security official.
Germany latest as car shown ‘driving at speed’
Public broadcaster MDR said at least one person has been killed and police have blocked off the area as there is a suspicion of explosives in the suspect’s car.
City spokesman Michael Reif said he suspects it was a deliberate act, adding there are “numerous injured” and that the “pictures are terrible”.
“My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far,” he added.
Germany‘s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said “the news suggests something bad” and that his thoughts are with “the victims and their families”.
The state premier Reiner Haseloff, who is on his way to the scene, said it is a “terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas”, according to MDR.
Police said on X that “extensive operations” were taking place at the market, which has been closed.
Weihnachtsmarkt Magdeburg has posted on Instagram warning people to leave the market and allow emergency services to do their work.
Sky News’s Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins said initial videos from the scene show what appears to be a car “driving at speed” into a crowd at a Christmas market.
“The police have put out a statement saying there’s an extensive police operation that’s going on and they haven’t officially said yet whether this is terror,” she added.
“That of course will be something that a lot of people will be asking. There has been a warning for Christmas markets across Europe to be on high alert for possible terror attacks.”
Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser said last month there were no concrete signs of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but added it was wise to be vigilant.
On 19 December 2016, an Islamic extremist drove a car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has a population of about 240,000.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
