Hundreds gathered for a vigil in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday to mourn the victims of a Christmas market attack that left five dead and 200 injured.

Families and people of all ages came to the Johanniskirche church, the city's main place of mourning.

Many had tears in their eyes and embraced one another. They stood silently, looking at an ever-growing sea of flowers.

A car had sped through the city's Christmas market on Friday evening, leaving a trail of death and chaos. The alleged perpetrator is in custody.

The suspect faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said Sunday.

Friday's attack shocked the country and stirred up tensions over the charged issue of immigration.

The suspect, who was in custody, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the attack remained unclear.

Earlier Saturday, there were scuffles and some "minor disturbances" at a far-right demonstration attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night in Magdeburg, police said. They added that criminal proceedings would follow but did not give details.

Protesters, some wearing black balaclavas, held up a large banner with the word "immigration," a term popular with supporters of the far right who seek the mass deportation of immigrants and people deemed not ethnically German.

A magistrate ordered the suspect, identified in German media as Taleb A., into pretrial custody on charges of murder on five counts as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, police said in a statement.