Andre Gleissner was among the five dead following the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany
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The youngest victim of the German Christmas market attack has been named through his family.
In a heartbreaking social media post, the mother of nine-year-old Andre Gleissner paid tribute to her “little teddy bear” after Friday night’s incident.
He is one of five other people killed when a BMW crashed into a busy Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg around 7 p. m.
Desiree Gleissner wrote on Facebook: “Let my teddy bear fly around the world again. André didn’t do anything to anyone. He only stayed with us on earth for nine years. Why you? Because?
She added: “You will always live on in our hearts … I promise you that.”
The fire department in Schoppenstedt, around an hour’s drive from the city, said Andre was a member of the children’s fire brigade in Warle.
Considering that “he left us too soon”, the brigade added: “Our thoughts are with André’s loved ones, whom we also wish in this difficult period. “
A fundraiser was held on her mother’s call to her family circle as she “lives the adventure of grief at her own pace. “
He describes Andre as someone who has “zest for life” and “really looks forward to Christmas” before his scale in the market “ends in tragedy. “
Almost €50,000 (£41,000) has been raised so far, with the friend who set up the GoFundMe page saying the family was “overwhelmed” by the support.
More than two hundred other people were injured in the attack, 41 of them seriously, while four other women died.
In the days after the attack, anger grew over security considerations and warnings to the government about the suspect.
Local media reported that he had run for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, and a Saudi source told Reuters that he had posted extremist views on his private X account and that the kingdom had alerted the German government about it.
A German security source told Reuters that tips sent by the Saudi authorities in 2023 and 2024 had been passed on to the relevant authorities.
Die Welt newspaper cited security resources and a threat assessment by state and federal investigators concluded that the man posed “no express danger. ”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz booed angry citizens when he arrived at the scene on Saturday.
Mr Scholz went on to pledge government support for those who needed it as he condemned the attack as “barbaric”.
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