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The latest deadly assault on a beloved German tradition illustrates the challenge of holiday safety.
By Lynsey Chutel and Jenny Gross
For years, Gerguyy has implemented increased security measures at Christmas markets in reaction to a 2016 attack in which a man killed 12 other people while driving a truck through a market in central Berlin.
Police deployed more uniformed and plainclothes officers. They erected barriers to keep cars and giant cars away from the crowds, installed security cameras and cordoned off giant spaces reserved for pedestrians. In some markets, they imposed stop-and-frisk protocols. And the intelligence services have intensified their surveillance, collaborating largely with immigration authorities.
Germany also banned knives at Christmas markets this year, after a fatal knife attack in August. Violators now face a fine of up to 10,000 euros (more than $10,400).
However, an attacker managed to break this surveillance on Friday by charging into the crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing at least five people, including a 9-year-old boy. According to Magdeburg police, the attacker entered the square through one emergency exit and exited through another. The driver, whom the government knows only as Taleb A. Under German privacy law, he was arrested a short time later.
“There’s going to be a big debate in Germany,” said Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King’s College London. “The fact that this was imaginable yesterday shows that everything should have worked. “
Outdoor Christmas markets are a beloved German tourist and cultural attraction, but the gigantic crowds they attract have made them targets.
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