Paramedics work at the site of an accident at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square in Berlin (Picture: Reuters)

At least nine people have been killed and 50 have been injured after a lorry ploughed into a packed Christmas market in Berlin.

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Police sources said that they believe it was a deliberate attack on tourists and locals.

The driver of the truck was briefly on the run but a suspect has since been detained after being arrested close to the scene.

A passenger in the truck died at the scene.


Berlin Police confirmed that nine people had been killed adding that ‘many others had been injured’.

Jan Hollitzer, a local journalist, said: ‘I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos… many injured people. It was really traumatic.’

The lorry smashed into the busy Berlin Christmas market (Picture: Reuters)

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An injured man is pushed to an ambulance at the site of an accident with a truck at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square (Picture: Reuters)

Brit Emma Rushton, who witnessed the market crash, saw the lorry rush past her at speed and said it could not have been an accident.



She told Sky News she only missed being caught in the chaos because she had climbed up some steps to take a seat.

Ms Rushton said: ‘The stall that we bought our mulled wine from was completely crushed. People were tearing off wooden panels to get out.’

She added: ‘It was not an accident. It was going 40mph, it was in the middle of the market. There was no way that it could have come off the road and it showed no signs of slowing down.’

The truck that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin (Picture: Getty)

Police work near the site of an accident at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the Kurfuerstendamm avenue in the west of Berlin, Germany, December 19, 2016 (Picture: Reuters)

Police cars and ambulances rushed quickly to the scene as a huge security operation unfolded.

Emma Rushton, a tourist visiting Berlin, told CNN the truck seemed to be traveling at about 40 mph (65 Kmh).

Police guard a Christmas market after a truck ran into crowds and killed several people in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (Picture: AP)

German police spokesperson Winfried Wenzel said the fatalities included a passenger in the truck, who died as paramedics treated him at the scene.

He offered no specifics on how the passenger was injured.

Mr Wenzel said the truck was registered in Poland, but officers are still investigating where it came from and who the driver was.

The Polish owner of the truck said he feared the vehicle, originally driven by his cousin, may have been hijacked. Ariel Zurawki said he last spoke with the driver around noon, and was told he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload on Tuesday morning.

Mr Zurawki told TVN24: ‘They must have done something to my driver.’

Facebook have activated the safety check-in feature so users can tell their friends and loved ones that they are okay after the suspected attack.

Aerial images show the aftermath of the truck, which smashed into the market outside the landmark Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church this evening.

The truck veered off the road into a Christmas Market (Picture: Wickey Costello/Periscope)

The incident shares similarities of the 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.

Police shot the driver dead in the Nice attack claimed by Islamic State.