BERLIN, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock and sadness on Thursday after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol.

The unsettling pictures of the riots at the U.S. Congress made her "angry and also sad," Merkel said in a video statement.

She said she deeply regretted that the president had not admitted his defeat since November. "Doubts about the outcome of the election were stoked, and that set the atmosphere for the night's events to become possible," Merkel said.

Protesters breached the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon and forced the Electoral College vote counting to halt. Chaos and violence caused an hours-long lockdown on the Capitol grounds and left four people dead and multiple others wounded.

"These scenes we have seen are the result of lies and more lies, of divisiveness and contempt for democracy, of hatred and agitation -- even from the very highest levels," said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday.