Post by SA Hunter on Dec 20, 2016 20:07:58 GMT 10
www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/nine-people-killed-after-truck-ploughs-into-a-christmas-market-in-berlin/news-story/e2543c2e5a33900d3212433337f25eaa
A SUSPECT has been detained by German police after a truck was deliberately driven into a packed Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring at least 48 more.
In what is now being described by police as a “presumed terrorist attack”, a large lorry was driven into a crowd gathered at the annual Christmas market near the Zoologische Garten train station in the heart of Berlin.
Screams rang out as people gathered in the market to drink mulled wine and shop for Christmas trinkets tried to flee the truck as it ploughed through the wooden stalls.
While Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident, those responsible had not been publicly identified by police. The attack happened at 8.15pm local time (6.15am AEDT).
The driver of the Polish-registered truck fled the scene but was later arrested by police.
German daily newspaper Die Welt and security sources cited by DPA news agency said that the man behind the wheel was an asylum seeker from Afghanistan or Pakistan who arrived in Germany in February.
The daily Tagesspiegel said the man was known to police but for minor crimes, not links to terrorism.
A Polish national who was a passenger in the truck died as paramedics treated him, Berlin police spokesman Winfried Wenzel said.
The truck was registered in Poland, and police said it was believed to be stolen from a building site there. They didn’t give a specific location.
The Polish owner of the truck said he feared the vehicle, driven by his cousin, may have been hijacked.
Ariel Zurawski said he last spoke with the driver around noon, and the driver told him he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload Tuesday morning.
“They must have done something to my driver,” he told TVN24.
“We haven’t heard from him since this afternoon. We don’t know what happened to him. He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him.”
A Berlin Police spokesman confirmed they had a suspect in custody.
“We’ve had a description of the driver, who was on the run at first. Because of this description, one suspect could be arrested,” he said.
“We are now investigating whether the arrested person is actually the driver of the truck. The suspect was arrested nearby, a few hundred metres away from the scene of the attack.”
Ambulances and heavily armed police rushed to the area after the vehicle mounted the pavement of the market in a square popular with tourists, in horrific scenes reminiscent of July’s deadly truck attack in the French Riviera city of Nice.
German federal president, Joachim Gauck, has issued a statement saying: “In my thoughts I am with the victims, with their families and with all those who fear for the safety of their friends and relatives. I thank the emergency services and the security forces for their hard work.”
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told public television: “I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet, although there are many things pointing to one.”
The horrific incident comes less than a week before Christmas.
Police asked crowds to stay away from the area as they closed down the streets and searched vehicles.
Hours earlier, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was murdered in front of the media and other guests at a photographic exhibition in the Turkish capital Ankara, by an off-duty Turkish policeman yelling about the Syrian city of Aleppo.
A SUSPECT has been detained by German police after a truck was deliberately driven into a packed Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring at least 48 more.
In what is now being described by police as a “presumed terrorist attack”, a large lorry was driven into a crowd gathered at the annual Christmas market near the Zoologische Garten train station in the heart of Berlin.
Screams rang out as people gathered in the market to drink mulled wine and shop for Christmas trinkets tried to flee the truck as it ploughed through the wooden stalls.
While Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident, those responsible had not been publicly identified by police. The attack happened at 8.15pm local time (6.15am AEDT).
The driver of the Polish-registered truck fled the scene but was later arrested by police.
German daily newspaper Die Welt and security sources cited by DPA news agency said that the man behind the wheel was an asylum seeker from Afghanistan or Pakistan who arrived in Germany in February.
The daily Tagesspiegel said the man was known to police but for minor crimes, not links to terrorism.
A Polish national who was a passenger in the truck died as paramedics treated him, Berlin police spokesman Winfried Wenzel said.
The truck was registered in Poland, and police said it was believed to be stolen from a building site there. They didn’t give a specific location.
The Polish owner of the truck said he feared the vehicle, driven by his cousin, may have been hijacked.
Ariel Zurawski said he last spoke with the driver around noon, and the driver told him he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload Tuesday morning.
“They must have done something to my driver,” he told TVN24.
“We haven’t heard from him since this afternoon. We don’t know what happened to him. He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him.”
A Berlin Police spokesman confirmed they had a suspect in custody.
“We’ve had a description of the driver, who was on the run at first. Because of this description, one suspect could be arrested,” he said.
“We are now investigating whether the arrested person is actually the driver of the truck. The suspect was arrested nearby, a few hundred metres away from the scene of the attack.”
Ambulances and heavily armed police rushed to the area after the vehicle mounted the pavement of the market in a square popular with tourists, in horrific scenes reminiscent of July’s deadly truck attack in the French Riviera city of Nice.
German federal president, Joachim Gauck, has issued a statement saying: “In my thoughts I am with the victims, with their families and with all those who fear for the safety of their friends and relatives. I thank the emergency services and the security forces for their hard work.”
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told public television: “I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet, although there are many things pointing to one.”
The horrific incident comes less than a week before Christmas.
Police asked crowds to stay away from the area as they closed down the streets and searched vehicles.
Hours earlier, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was murdered in front of the media and other guests at a photographic exhibition in the Turkish capital Ankara, by an off-duty Turkish policeman yelling about the Syrian city of Aleppo.
