At just after 7pm on Friday, a black BMW turned off a main road in the east German city of Magdeburg and headed towards the Christmas market.

Driving slowly at first, the car turned onto an alleyway where hundreds of locals were browsing the stalls and sipping hot glühwein. Pointing his vehicle directly at the crowd, the driver slammed his foot on the accelerator.

In footage captured by a nearby camera, the next seconds show scenes of utter horror - the almost 2-tonne car ploughing at full speed through families who barely had time to turn their heads.

As shoppers fled in panic, the driver - named on Saturday as Saudi citizen Taleb al Abdulmohsen - turned another corner and drove out of the market.

An off-duty policeman pursued the vehicle until he came to a halt outside Magdeburg shopping centre, where he was arrested at gunpoint by armed officers.