German Interior Minister "Suspect of car crash in German market is Islamophobic"

The suspect, who drove his car into the German Magdeburg Christmas market and caused more than 200 casualties, is an Islamophobe, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"For now, I can only say with certainty that the perpetrator was Islamophobic," Faeser said. "Everything else requires further investigation, so we have to wait."

Earlier, Saxony-Anhalt Governor Reiner Haselov said the suspect was a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia, a doctor who settled in Germany in 2006.Authorities in

believe the suspect committed the crime alone using a rental car and presumed it was a deliberate attack.

At least five people were killed and more than 200 injured in the attack, 41 of whom were seriously injured.

Magdeburg city officials say the five deaths included a nine-year-old child.