Berlin truck crashes into Christmas market Washington Times l 02
- 7 years ago
In a rerun of the Bastille Day terrorist attack in Nice, a truck driver plowed his vehicle through a bustling Monday evening Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, causing mass carnage for which the Islamic State quickly took credit.
The Berlin policesaid on Twitter, according to a translation by The Washington Times, that “we can confirm 9 deaths.” The department has told German media that at least 50 more people were injured.
According to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Berlin Mayor Michael Muller said “the situation is under control.”
SEE ALSO: Germany’s child terrorist: ‘Strongly radicalized’ boy, 12, tried to bomb Christmas market
The Berlin police said the truck contained two men, one of whom “died on the spot.” A man suspected of being the driver “was arrested in the vicinity.”
“The backgrounds are still unclear,” the Berlin police wrote on Twitter in German.
The Twitter feed of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force said that the Islamic State was claiming credit for the Berlin attack, based on jihadist accounts the IPMF tracks using encrypted technology.
A German intelligence official told CNN said the crash “is now being investigated as if it were a terrorist attack.”
Stephan Mayer, a member of Germany’s Bundestag said the attack could threaten the continued existence of the iconic German tradition of open-air Christmas markets.
“With this supposed attack on the Christmas market in Berlin, our worst fears have come true. Now the safety design of every Christmas market in Germany has to be examined — even to the point where we ask ourselves whether they can even still take place,” he said.
According to multiple German news outlets, the truck had Polish plates and was en route back home from Italy. But according to the German news outlet Tagesthemen, the Polish truck’s owner said he had lost contact with the driver, his cousin, earlier in the day, leading to reports that the truck had been hijacked.
About the dead man in the truck, Sky News reported that “there is some information that this person might be the Polish truck driver and he might have been killed before the attack.”
Citing an eyewitness, CNN reported that the truck seemed to be going about 40 mph and made no obvious effort to avoid people.
Reporter Laura Bundock said on Sky News that “Police in Berlin are now saying this was probably deliberate, an attack.” And a Berlin police officer told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper ““That looked like intent.”
Witnesses said the truck left the main thoroughfare of Kurfurstendamm around 8 p.m. local time and rammed through stands lining the street as it entered the small pedestrian square where stalls were set up, selling trinkets and serving traditional fare such as wursts, gingerbread and mulled wine.
Dozens of people were on the ground as police vehicles began to arrive shortly after 9 p.m., witnesses said. The truck was turned over, next to the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Church. Mangled stalls and debris were littered in its path.
Christmas markets are a traditional staple of German towns, which get busy in the evenings leading up to Christmas Eve – it’s a normal outing for family or groups of friends to meet up at a market, shop, eat and drink.
This particularly market, on Breitscheidplatz, is one of the smaller ones in Berlin, but very busy because Kurfurstendamm is the city’s biggest shopping street. The square is also a youth hangout and restaurant sight, as well as a tourist draw with the Zoo nearby.
The Berlin policesaid on Twitter, according to a translation by The Washington Times, that “we can confirm 9 deaths.” The department has told German media that at least 50 more people were injured.
According to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Berlin Mayor Michael Muller said “the situation is under control.”
SEE ALSO: Germany’s child terrorist: ‘Strongly radicalized’ boy, 12, tried to bomb Christmas market
The Berlin police said the truck contained two men, one of whom “died on the spot.” A man suspected of being the driver “was arrested in the vicinity.”
“The backgrounds are still unclear,” the Berlin police wrote on Twitter in German.
The Twitter feed of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force said that the Islamic State was claiming credit for the Berlin attack, based on jihadist accounts the IPMF tracks using encrypted technology.
A German intelligence official told CNN said the crash “is now being investigated as if it were a terrorist attack.”
Stephan Mayer, a member of Germany’s Bundestag said the attack could threaten the continued existence of the iconic German tradition of open-air Christmas markets.
“With this supposed attack on the Christmas market in Berlin, our worst fears have come true. Now the safety design of every Christmas market in Germany has to be examined — even to the point where we ask ourselves whether they can even still take place,” he said.
According to multiple German news outlets, the truck had Polish plates and was en route back home from Italy. But according to the German news outlet Tagesthemen, the Polish truck’s owner said he had lost contact with the driver, his cousin, earlier in the day, leading to reports that the truck had been hijacked.
About the dead man in the truck, Sky News reported that “there is some information that this person might be the Polish truck driver and he might have been killed before the attack.”
Citing an eyewitness, CNN reported that the truck seemed to be going about 40 mph and made no obvious effort to avoid people.
Reporter Laura Bundock said on Sky News that “Police in Berlin are now saying this was probably deliberate, an attack.” And a Berlin police officer told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper ““That looked like intent.”
Witnesses said the truck left the main thoroughfare of Kurfurstendamm around 8 p.m. local time and rammed through stands lining the street as it entered the small pedestrian square where stalls were set up, selling trinkets and serving traditional fare such as wursts, gingerbread and mulled wine.
Dozens of people were on the ground as police vehicles began to arrive shortly after 9 p.m., witnesses said. The truck was turned over, next to the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Church. Mangled stalls and debris were littered in its path.
Christmas markets are a traditional staple of German towns, which get busy in the evenings leading up to Christmas Eve – it’s a normal outing for family or groups of friends to meet up at a market, shop, eat and drink.
This particularly market, on Breitscheidplatz, is one of the smaller ones in Berlin, but very busy because Kurfurstendamm is the city’s biggest shopping street. The square is also a youth hangout and restaurant sight, as well as a tourist draw with the Zoo nearby.