Authorities still determining motive behind German Christmas market attack that left at least five dead, hundreds injured

German authorities are still working to determine the motive behind an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg.

At least five people were killed and hundreds more injured after 50-year-old Saudi national Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove a vehicle through the crowded area.

According to CNN, Abdulmohsen had been living in Germany since 2006 and worked as a doctor in the town of Berburg, 40km south of Magdeburg in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Investigators with the Magdeburg Public Prosecutor's office said they found a number of posts on his social media critical of Islam and the German government's failure to prevent radicals from spreading their doctrine in the country.

They added that he may have been driven to carry out the horrific attack over his displeasure with Germany's treatment of Saudi refugees, but noted that it was still too early to tell. He was said to have been interviewed numerous times in the past about his involvement in freeing Saudis from the oppressive regime.

The incident took place around 7 p.m. local time on Friday December 20, and Abdulmohsen was apprehended almost immediately after the carnage came to an end. Dozens of police, firefighters, and other first responders did what they could to prevent more people from succumbing to their injuries.

Their actions were lauded by German chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"My thoughts are with the victims and their families," he wrote in a post on X. "We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours."