12 Dead As Lorry Plows Into Christmas Market In Berlin
MEP: At least 12 people have lost their lives and some 48 others wounded after a truck plowed into a Christmas market in western Berlin, in what media called “a suspected terrorist attack.”
According to German police, the truck on Monday rammed into the market outside the popular market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
“Our investigators assume that the truck was deliberately steered into the crowd at the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz,” police said on Twitter.
“All police measures related to the suspected terrorist attack at Breitscheidplatz are progressing at full steam and with the necessary diligence,” police said.
An Australian tourist gave her account of the incident to reporters, stressing that there was “blood and bodies everywhere.” “I just saw this huge black truck speeding through the markets crushing so many people and then all the lights went out and everything was destroyed,” Trisha O’Neill said.
“I could hear screaming and then we all froze. Then suddenly people started to move and lift all the wreckage off people, trying to help whoever was there,” she added.
Police later revealed that the lorry, which was loaded with steel beams, was Polish-owned.
The owner, Ariel Zurawski, told AFP the driver was his cousin and that he had not heard from him since lunchtime on Monday.
“We have not had contact with him since this afternoon. I do not know what happened to him. He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since childhood. I vouch for him, “Zurawski said.
Police said the incident – which echoed an attack in Nice in July this year where 86 people were killed by a truck driven by a terrorist inspired by Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) – appeared to be intentional. On Monday night they warned local residents to stay indoors.
