Vigils and memorials have been held in the German city of Magdeburg and further afield after a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market killed five people including a nine-year-old child.
A spontaneous memorial was created by grieving families and local residents at a church overlooking Magdeburg's Christmas market where the attack took place.
As the day passed, politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, came to lay flowers at the spontaneous memorial.
More than 200 people were injured in the incident with 41 sustaining either serious or critical injuries.
A Saudi man has been arrested on suspicion of ploughing a car into the crowd.
"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said when speaking to media at the market.
"We have now learnt that over 200 people have been injured," he added.
"Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them."
Mr Scholz pledged the state would respond "with the full force of the law" to the attack.
But he also called for unity as Germany has been rocked by a heated debate on immigration and security ahead of elections in February.
It was important "that we stick together, that we link arms, that it is not hatred that determines our coexistence but the fact that we are a community that seeks a common future", he said.
The chancellor travelled to Magdeburg to voice his sympathy and support for the victims of the attack.
Authorities investigated Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi doctor with a history of anti-Islam rhetoric as the suspected driver in the attack.
The Friday evening attack on crowds gathered to celebrate the Christmas season could sharpen a fierce debate in Germany over security and immigration ahead of a national election in February, with opinion polls suggesting the far right will perform strongly.
Authorities said the motive was not clear.
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However, the Magdeburg prosecutor, Horst Nopens, said one possible factor could be what he called the suspect's frustration with Germany's handling of Saudi refugees.
The suspect, a 50-year-old psychiatrist who has lived in Germany for almost two decades, was arrested at the scene following the three-minute attack in the central city that shocked the country.
The driver used emergency exit points to slowly navigate the vehicle towards the market, before picking up speed and ploughing into the crowd, a city police official told reporters.
A video posted on social media yesterday from a position above the market shows a car driving at speed through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls.
People can be seen knocked to the ground and running away.
Reuters was able to verify the location, with the trees, outline and design of the buildings matching file and satellite imagery of the area.
Footage from a local broadcaster showed people wrapped in blankets on the ground receiving care in the wake of the attack.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security.
Posts on the suspect's X account, verified by Reuters, suggested he supported anti-Islam and far-right parties, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and had criticised Germany for its handling of Saudi refugees.
In an unpublished interview with AFP from 2022 for an unrelated story, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen presented himself as "a Saudi atheist".
Suspect's Islamophobia was clear to see, says minister
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the suspect's Islamophobia was clear to see, but she declined to comment on the motive.
Germany's FAZ newspaper said it interviewed the suspect in 2019, describing him as an anti-Islam activist.
"People like me, who have an Islamic background but are no longer believers, are met with neither understanding nor tolerance by Muslims here," he was quoted as saying.
"I am history's most aggressive critic of Islam. If you don't believe me, ask the Arabs."
Andrea Reis, who had been at the market yesterday, returned today with her daughter Julia to lay a candle by the church overlooking the site. She said that had it not been for a matter of moments, they may have been in the car's path.
"I said, 'let's go and get a sausage', but my daughter said 'no let's keep walking around'. If we'd stayed where we were we'd have been in the car's path," she said.
Tears ran down her face as she described the scene. "Children screaming, crying for mama. You can't forget that," she said.
Read more:
'Torn from my side' - horror of German Christmas market attack
As it happened: German market attack
The German Chancellor has visited the site of the attack and was joined by numerous national and regional politicians.
They laid flowers outside the main church.
Mr Scholtz's Social Democrats are trailing both the far-right AfD and the frontrunner conservative opposition in opinion polls aheadof snap elections set for 23 February.
The AfD has led calls for a crackdown on migration to the country.
Its chancellor candidate Alice Weidel and co-leader Tino Chrupalla issued a statement condemning the attack.
"The terrible attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in the middle of the peaceful pre-Christmas period has shaken us," they said.
(Watch: Police inspect Magdeburg Christmas market after attack)
Offers of condolences
Taoiseach Simon Harris described the incident as "shocking and despicable."
"Thinking of and praying for the victims and their families and all those involved in responding to the situation," Mr Harris said on X.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said he is "shocked and appalled" at the loss of life in Magdeburg, and has urged Irish citizens in the area to follow advice from local authorities.
"My thoughts and prayers go to the victims, their families, emergency services and the German people," he said.
US President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in voicing his condolences "to the people of Germany grieving the terrible attack".
"No community - and no family - should have to endure such a despicable and dark event, especially just days before a holiday of joy and peace," he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "profoundly shocked" by the attack and that he "shares the pain of the German people".
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is "horrified" by the attack on the Christmas market.
In a statement, he said "My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected. We stand with the people of Germany," he added.
