A car drives into Christmas market in Germany

There was no immediate information on whether people were killed or injured.

Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.

On December 19, 2016 in Berlin, an Islamic extremist attacker ploughed through a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, leaving 13 people dead and injuring dozens more. 

The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.