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12 Dead in Berlin After Truck Drives Into Christmas Market At Least 12 Dead in Berlin After Truck Crashes into Christmas Market
(about 2 hours later)
BERLIN — A truck driver plowed into a crowded Christmas market late Monday on a city square in central Berlin, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others, in what the police said they believed was an attack. BERLIN — A truck plowed through a Christmas market late Monday in Berlin, turning a traditional center of holiday festivities into a scene of carnage with at least 12 dead and dozens wounded in what the authorities were investigating as a possible terror attack.
German media reported that the truck driver jumped the sidewalk around wooden stands at the market, which was set up around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whose jagged spire, a reminder of the bombings during World War II, is one of the most symbolic sites in Berlin. It sits between two main streets that run through the heart of West Berlin. The truck jumped the sidewalk about 8 p.m. near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whose jagged spire, a reminder of the bombings during World War II, is one of the most symbolic sites in Berlin.
Local media reported that the driver fled the scene. Later, the Berlin police said they had arrested a man near the Christmas market, but they were not immediately able to confirm whether he was the driver. The police also said a passenger was found dead in the cab of the truck. The police said they later arrested a man near the scene who was suspected of driving the truck, which had been stolen from a worksite in Poland about a two-hour drive from Berlin. A passenger, identified by the authorities as a Polish national, was found dead in the cab.
Firefighters at the site could be seen surrounding the trailer of the truck, parked on the square at the base of the tower of the church. Emergency vehicles surrounded the square and the police asked people to stay at home. There was no claim of responsibility, but the episode immediately evoked the attack in July in Nice, France, when a truck driver ran over and killed more than 80 people during Bastille Day celebrations.
Wooden boards were scattered on the ground as though the truck had driven straight into one of the small stands that sells sweets, sausages, Christmas decorations, jewelry, crafts and small gifts. The impact scattered people who just moments before had been shopping and drinking mulled wine amid stands that sell Christmas gifts, sweets and sausages. At least 45 people were injured, including several with severe wounds, the authorities said.
The episode immediately evoked memories of the attack last July in Nice, France, when a truck driver struck and killed more than 80 people during Bastille Day celebrations. “People were sitting holding their heads, there were pools of blood on the floor,” said Emma Rushton, a British tourist, who was visiting Berlin for the first time and who watched as the truck crushed a stand right in front of her.
Though that carnage came in the midst of a series of terrorist attacks linked to jihadists in France, it was never clear if the Islamic State or other Islamist groups were connected to the driver, who had a long history of disturbed and violent behavior. Though it was never clear if the driver in Nice was linked to the Islamic State, the group’s exhortations to run over its enemies seemed to have inspired the killer, who had a long history of disturbed and violent behavior.
The mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, rushed to the market. “It’s terrible to see this scene,” he said. “It’s exactly what we did not want to see in Berlin.” If the Berlin attack turns out to have been carried out by someone who entered Germany as a migrant, it could produce yet another political crisis for Chancellor Angela Merkel. Ms. Merkel has been sharply criticized for allowing one million migrants to enter the country, often without any screening or background checks.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was in contact with her interior minister and Mr. Müller. “We mourn the dead and hope the many injured can be helped,” her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter. Heiko Maas, Germany’s justice minister, said that federal prosecutors had taken over the investigation of the crash, an indication of that the authorities suspected terrorism.
The interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, said he was immediately alerted after the episode and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “I am in direct contact with security officials in Berlin and have asked for support from the federal police.” Still, Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s top security official, insisted it could have been either an attack or an accident. And Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, refused to use the word “attack” in an interview with ARD public broadcaster.
Federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation. “The words we choose have a psychological effect on the whole country,” Mr. de Maizière said. “I am consciously avoiding using the word ‘attack,’ although there is a lot that points in that direction.”
Germany has not seen a large-scale terror attack, such as the ones this year in Brussels and Nice, but the authorities have said that the country remains on alert after smaller attacks this year, including a suicide bombing in Bavaria, which the authorities said was linked to the Islamic State. Officials in Washington were less cautious in their characterization, based on similar attacks that the Islamic State seems to have inspired before, like the one in Nice.
Christmas markets are a beloved German tradition. They open on the first Sunday in advent and attract thousands of visitors throughout the month of December until Christmas Eve. “The United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin,” the National Security Council said in a statement.
Redwan Emhemed, 17, was at a shopping mall across the street from the market just before the attack. He said he saw the truck come down the street and barrel into the stands about 15 yards away from the church. Since Ms. Merkel’s decision last summer to throw open Germany’s borders to migrants and refugees, her country has grown jittery and concerned by security threats and the challenges of integrating the newcomers.
An attack on a Christmas market would likely provoke particular ire. Christmas markets are a beloved German tradition that open on the first Sunday of Advent and attract thousands of visitors throughout December until Christmas Eve.
Coming only days before Christmas, the crash left Germans numb and unnerved after months marked by a steady uptick of episodes, increasing in lethality.
The year opened with scores of sexual assaults in Cologne that were blamed on migrants and reports of a threatened attack on Munich’s main railway station.
Since February, four smaller-scale terrorist attacks have been carried out in Germany by people who said they were motivated by the Islamic State, two of them refugees.
One refugee injured five passengers on a train near Würzburg, and the other wounded 15 people when he detonated a bomb in his backpack near a concert in Ansbach.
The attacks have helped to feed a growing populist movement and have helped the far-right, nationalist Alternative for Germany party gain strength, with representation in half of the country’s 16 states.
Ms. Merkel said on Monday she was in contact with Mr. de Maizière, the interior minister, and the mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller.
“We mourn the dead and hope the many injured can be helped,” the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter.
The police in Berlin said that a man had been found dead in the passenger seat of the cab of the truck, which had Polish license plates.
Ariel Zurawski, whose company owns the truck, said in a telephone interview that his cousin had been driving it and was a reliable individual who would not be capable of a deliberate act of terrorism.
“I vouch for him. He’s my cousin and I’ve known him for ages. I trust him completely,” Mr. Zurawski said. “He’s very dedicated to his job. He’s a very experienced driver and always takes great care of the equipment.”
Mr. Zurawski said he had spoken to his cousin around noon and everything was fine, but he added that his cousin’s wife had been unable to get a hold of him when she called him about four hours later.
“That was already a bad sign,” he said.
Firefighters at the site could be seen surrounding the trailer of the truck, parked on the square at the base of the tower of the church. Emergency vehicles surrounded the square, which sits between two main streets that run through the heart of West Berlin.
“It’s terrible to see this scene,” Mr. Müller said. “It’s exactly what we did not want to see in Berlin.”