A local fire brigade paid tribute to a nine-year-old killed in a German Christmas market attack.

André Gleißner died after a car drove into a crowd of shoppers in Magdeburg on Friday evening, reported the Schöppenstedt fire department.

The department stated he was a member of the children’s fire brigade in Warle, about an hour from Magdeburg.

Four women, aged 45, 52, 67, and 75, also died in the attack. Authorities are holding a suspect in pre-trial detention for attempted murder, and dangerous bodily harm.

“Our thoughts are with André’s relatives, who we also want to support during this difficult time,” said the fire department.

The Lower Saxony youth fire brigade also paid tribute to André. “Our condolences go out to his family, his friends, and everyone close to him,” they said.

The attack on Friday injured over 200 people, some critically. The four women killed remain unidentified.

The car entered the crowded market through an emergency access lane around 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Friday, police said. Eyewitnesses described jumping out of the car’s path, fleeing, or hiding.

Unverified social media footage showed the vehicle speeding through a pedestrian walkway between stalls. Police said the driver then returned to the road, stopped in traffic, and was arrested.

Around 100 police, medics, and firefighters attended the scene, city officials stated.

A 50-year-old man is in custody on suspicion of five counts of murder, multiple attempted murders, and dangerous bodily harm. Local media identified the suspect as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi-born psychiatrist who arrived in Germany in 2006.

The motive behind the attack remains unclear, but authorities believe the driver acted alone.

German authorities face questions about security after reports they were warned last year that the suspect posed a threat. The Saudi foreign ministry said it warned the German government about al-Abdulmohsen’s extremist views but received no response.