Brits heading to Germany have been issued fresh travel advice information following an attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg on December 20. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said that a local information hotline has been set up by the police for any person concerned about a relative in the area.
Brits have also been told that UK nationals in need of consular assistance can also get in touch 24/7 with the Embassy online, or by phone: +49 (0) 30 204570 or +44 (0)20 7008 5000. According to the FCDO, terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Germany. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news. You will receive updates from us daily.
Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in public places visited by foreign nationals such as restaurants, markets, shopping centres, places of worship and religious sites, including synagogues, sporting and cultural events and crowded places and public gatherings
Examples of recent attacks include when three people were killed and several injured following a knife attack in Solingen in August 2024. In 2021, five people were also stabbed and injured on a train in Neumarkt, Bavaria. In 2020, one person was killed and another seriously injured in a knife attack in Dresden. German authorities regularly report that they have disrupted planned attacks and made arrests.
In the recent attack in Magdeburg, more than 205 victims were injured and five people killed including a nine-year-old child. Prosecutor Horst Nopens said the suspect, a Saudi doctor, is under investigation on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm.
Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old who has been living in Germany for nearly two decades and practising medicine there. He was arrested on at the site of the attack as medical officials tended to the injured, and was taken into custody for questioning. Several German media outlets identified the man as Taleb A, withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.