50 injured as truck ploughs into crowd at Berlin’s Christmas market

A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital Berlin on the evening of Monday December 19, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others.

According to local police, the first indications pointed to a terrorist attack on the market, situated at the foot of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church.

The moving vehicle crashed into the Berlin market at what would have been one of the most crowded times for the Christmas market, when adults and children would be gathering in the traditional cluster of wooden huts that sell food and Christmas goods.

“I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos…many injured people,” Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor in chief of Berliner Morgenpost, told CNN. “It was really traumatic.”

According to local police, at least 50 people have been badly injured and several people have died.

Local media, citing police at the scene, said first indications pointed to an attack on the market, situated near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue and at the foot of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church that was kept as a ruin after World War Two.

The incident evoked memories of an attack in France in July when Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, killing 86 people.

Sources:

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
• https://www.youtube.com/