Doubts among (former) colleagues whether suspect in Magdeburg Christmas market attack is actually a doctor: 'He first looked everything up on Google' Modified: Yesterday, 23:15Yesterday, 21:07in Abroad
MAGDENBURG - Former colleagues of suspected attacker Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, the Saudi Arabian doctor who drove a rented car through the Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday, are openly questioning his methods and the diagnoses he made in the German media. "More than ever, we are asking ourselves whether he was really a doctor. He had to look everything up." In any case, Germany is reacting in a divided manner in the run-up to new elections.
More than two hundred people were injured on Friday. Five others were unable to tell the tale of their visit to the Christmas market, including André, who was only 9 years old and for whom more than a ton has been collected. The shock in Germany, but also the sympathy, is great.
The motive is still a mystery. German media spoke to former colleagues and associates of suspect Al Abdulmohsen after the tragedy in Magdeburg. Because they clearly had something to say. "We had long had serious doubts about his competence as a doctor. That's why we called him 'Dr. Google'. He consulted Google for every diagnosis. As if he had to look up everything", it sounds.
Angry phone calls “In addition, there were many misunderstandings about diagnoses because he spoke such poor German. More and more patients refused to be treated by him because of this,” says a former medical secretary who had to answer angry phone calls from patients all the time.
A nurse who worked with Al Abdulmohsen for a while resigned. "There were constant complaints to other doctors and superiors about Taleb Al Abdulmohsen." According to her, an investigation was not conducted. The ex-employee also has nothing good to say about Al Abdulmohsen personally: "He was completely disrespectful to female staff and slammed the doors in our faces. When we asked questions because we didn't understand something, he reacted aggressively."
'Wrong medicine' "Al Abdulmohsen repeatedly endangered the lives of patients by prescribing the wrong medication," another former colleague told Focus anonymously. When colleagues complained about this to management, they were sent away.
Al Abdulmohsen eventually disappeared for a few weeks. “We all thought our suspicions were right and that he had left because he wasn’t a real doctor. There was a lot of gossip about that at the time. But then he suddenly reappeared and went back to work. Until he went on sick leave in October.”
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Colleagues do not understand what possessed him. But, it sounds, that something was wrong with him, was clear to them. You did not even have to be a doctor for that. "However, talking to him was not an option. He was not open to it."
Since the attack, many colleagues are almost certain that he was not a qualified doctor and that he had wrongly claimed that title. It will now all be part of the police investigation into Al Abdulmohsen.
A memorial in Maagdenburg in eastern Germany after a fatal tragedy involving a man who drove into the crowd at a Christmas market.
'Deport!' The aftermath has divided Germany to the core. In Magdeburg, the anti-immigration AfD party held a memorial march for the victims on Monday. Shortly before the march, AfD leader Alice Weidel had called at a rally for changes “so that we can finally live in safety again.” Her call came ahead of early elections, which are likely to be held in two months. Her audience chanted: “Deport, deport, deport.”
Wild speculation about 'true nature' of attacker Taleb Al Abdulmohsen: 'The ex-Muslim story is nonsense'
At the same time, the left-wing activist group Give Hate No Chance (Gib Hass keine Chance) formed a human chain, as a symbol of solidarity and against extremism. The anti-AfD movement said in a statement that “we are all shocked and angry to see that people want to exploit this brutal act for their own political purposes.” The chain of people, many of whom carried candles, went around the Alter Markt, where the attack took place.
Both demonstrations attracted several thousand participants. Police counted 4,000 at the counter-demonstration and 3,500 at the AfD rally and march, according to regional broadcaster MDR.
