At least 68 visitors were also injured after the vehicle sped 400m straight through a crammed “Fairy Tale” section of the Magdeburg market yesterday evening at about 7pm.
Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people west of Berlin. Saxony-Anhalt’s governor Reiner Haseloff said that one of those killed was a small child.
Bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect surrender. He stood in the middle of the road and put his hands up before lying down and waiting for armed officers to take him into custody.
A huge cordon was set up around a vehicle after a piece of baggage on the passenger seat sparked fears of a bomb, but this was later ruled out.
At the scene of the incident, emergency workers could be seen treating victims on the ground while tents were put up in the area.
Mr Haseloff said: "It's a terrible tragedy. This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for Germany generally as well.
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