Heartbroken mum of boy killed in Christmas market attack: 'Why you, just why?'
Desiree Gleissner said little Andre 'will always live in our hearts' following his death in Magdeburg on Friday
The mum of a nine-year-old boy killed in the Christmas market horror attack in Magdeburg, Germany has promised him: “You will always live in our hearts.”
Little Andre Gleissner was one of five people killed in the atrocity, along with women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75.
They were enjoying a festive market in the German city when a BMW ploughed into the crowd.
Heartbroken mum Desiree said: “Let my little teddy bear fly around the world again. Andre didn’t do anything to anybody... he was only nine years with us on Earth.
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“Why you, just why? I don’t understand. Now you are with grandma and grandpa. They missed you very much... as much as we miss you here now.”
She added: “You will always live in our hearts... I promise you that.”
A family friend said: “Andre was looking forward to Christmas so much. With his cheerful smile and joy of life, Andre leaves a big gap in the hearts of his family, friends and all those who knew him.”
The schoolboy had previously lived in the Bavarian village of Floss, where his dad and other family still live. He and his mother moved to Warle, an hour from Magdeburg, two months ago.
Locals are registering in large numbers to donate blood at Magdeburg University Hospital and have created a sea of flowers, candles and cuddly toys in front of St John’s Church to show support for the families of the dead.
Among the 205 people injured in Friday’s attack is Marco Forciniti, 39, who has broken legs and ankles. Speaking from hospital, he said: “The BMW caught me full. I flew over the car due to the force of the impact. After that, I don’t know anything.
“I was probably lying on the road for an hour-and-a-half. A doctor took care of my foot, which was twisted by 90 degrees.”
Also injured were Anne, 40, and husband Matthias, 49.
Anne was released from hospital with a black eye and severe bruises on Saturday afternoon but Matthias is still being treated.
She said: “I don’t know what happened. At some point I woke up, there were lights everywhere. I called for my husband and thought I was in a dream.”
Anne says she and Matthias feel lucky to be alive but will never attend another Christmas market.
Suspect Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, is facing five counts of murder as well as 200 counts of attempted murder, and multiple counts of GBH. It was revealed yesterday that in 2013, he was sentenced to 90 days in prison for disturbing the public peace after
referencing the Boston Marathon bombing.
He also has a history of threatening behaviour but was not flagged as a terror risk.
Psychologist al-Abdulmohsen was born and raised in Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, before moving to Germany in 2006.
He is understood to have been a practising Shia Muslim in Saudi Arabia but turned his back on his religion and became anti-Islam after moving to his adopted homeland.
Al-Abdulmohsen allegedly supported comments made by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson on social media and posted messages about Germany’s right-wing AfD party and what he called the “Islamification of Europe”.
In online posts about the treatment of refugees, he had said: “If Germany wants a war, we will fight it.”
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