Police questioning suspect following incident in Breitscheidplatz, in which truck was deliberately driven into busy Christmas market

Berlin police are investigating a “presumed terrorist attack” after at least 12 people were killed and about 50 injured when a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in the city on Monday evening.

They are interrogating a suspect – thought to be the driver – who was arrested 2km from the scene and are working on the assumption the black Scania articulated truck was deliberately driven into the busy market in Breitscheidplatz. The truck had a runup of about 80 metres before crashing into market stalls and shoppers outside Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, at about 8pm.

A man found in the truck was ruled out by police as the driver at the time of the attack. He died as a result of the crash and was later identified as a Polish citizen. The Polish delivery company that owned the vehicle said it lost touch with the driver at 4pm local time after it left the country for Berlin.

Owner Ariel Zurawki said he feared the vehicle, driven by his cousin, might have been hijacked. He told the Polish news outlet TVN24: “They must have done something to my driver.”

Berlin truck crash: 12 dead in 'apparent terrorist attack' at Christmas market – live Read more

Doctors treating patients at the scene and in clinics across Berlin reported a high number of fractures and internal injuries – including bleeding and damaged organs. One doctor said operations would be going on through the night with many of the injured in a life-threatening state so off-duty doctors across Berlin were being brought in.



A witness told the Guardian the truck hit the market at speed. “It was not an accident. The truck was going 40mph. It was in the middle of a square, there are main roads either side, [where it could have come from]. But it showed no sign of slowing down,” said Emma Rushton, a British tourist.

She said it crashed into a stall only a few feet from where she and her friend were standing. “We heard a massive bang. About eight to 10 feet in front of us was where the lorry ploughed through. It ploughed through the stall where we bought our mulled wine.

Emma Rushton (@ERushton) Lorry just ploughed through Christmas market in #berlin. There is no road nearby. People crushed. I am safe. I am safe pic.twitter.com/63iWMmdSKr

“It ploughed through people and the wooden huts, it tore the lights down. Everything went dark, it was black and there was screaming. It was awful,” she said.

Rushton said they did not know if the incident was over once the truck stopped, so they stayed still. “The people in the huts were under it but they were pulled out and they were fine. We didn’t know if something else was coming.

“We walked where the lorry had ploughed through and saw injured people and blood. We saw 10 to 12 people.”

Another witness, Mike Fox, told the Associated Press that the truck missed him by about three metres as it drove into the market, tearing through tables and market stalls.



“It was definitely deliberate,” said the tourist from Birmingham. He said he helped people who appeared to have broken limbs and that others were trapped under Christmas stands.

The incident was reminiscent of the Nice truck attack in July, when a Tunisian-born French resident, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, drove a 19-tonne vehicle down the city’s Promenade des Anglais into a crowd that had gathered for a Bastille Day firework display, killing 86 people and injuring hundreds.

French authorities said that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been inspired by Isis propaganda but no evidence had been found that Isis orchestrated the attack.

The German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, said in the hours after the attack the evidence had not yet made it clear that it was deliberate, though it was likely to have been one.

“We don’t yet have anything conclusive regarding the circumstances and the course of events ... I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet although a lot points to that,” he told ARD public television.

The US president-elect, Donald Trump, said it was a terror attack and blamed “Islamist terrorists”. He said: “Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today’s horrifying terror attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

“Isis and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the Earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.”

Trump did not cite evidence to back his claims, which were made before Berlin police made their statement. .

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany - and it is only getting worse. The civilized world must change thinking!

The incident in Breitscheidplatz, one of Berlin’s busiest shopping areas, comes less than a month after the US state department called for caution in markets and other public places, saying extremist groups including Islamic State and al-Qaida were focusing “on the upcoming holiday season and associated events”.

A German government spokesman said Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was being briefed by De Maizière, and Berlin’s mayor, Michael Müller.

De Maizière told reporters: “My thoughts are with the relatives of the victims and those injured in this terrible incident. I am in constant contact with the security forces in Berlin and have offered them every possible assistance from the federal police.”

Wolfgang Bosbach, an MP with the Christian Democratic Union, Merkel’s party, said: “Although there is a host of unanswered questions, indications are it was a deliberate attack, carried out not just with the greatest brutality and disastrous consequences but also with a deliberate symbolism. Just a few days before Christmas, in the middle of the German capital and amidst happy, peaceful people. The message is clear: no matter where, no matter how, we can pounce at any time.”



Müller said: “What we’re seeing here is dramatic and a shock to us all. We hope that our fears that this is an attack won’t prove true. Our thoughts are with the families of the injured and dead.”

The White House said the incident “appears to have been a terrorist attack”. Its national security council spokesman, Ned Price, said the US condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”. The US interior ministry also issued a heightened warning for its citizens throughout Europe.

The lorry is believed to have been loaded with steel when it left for Berlin, which – according to transport experts – would have made it more deadly.

Police called the scene “devastating” and said they had considered that Christmas markets were at risk of being targeted by terrorists for some time.

Officers said the lorry came from the direction of Budapester Strasse, over the pavement, before coming to a halt by a Christmas tree in front of the church. Known locally as the jagged tooth, the church was bombed in the second world war, and left more or less in its ruined state as a memorial to the victims of the war. It is one of the most popular tourist sites in Berlin, and very close to the Berlin zoo.



Police cleared the area and volunteers set up an information point for relatives looking for news of missing loved ones. The Christmas market was cleared and a police spokesman said there were concerns the crash might have caused a gas leak.



Morgenpost newspaper posted a photograph online, showing damaged tables and stalls, and footage of a truck at the scene and police officers investigating.

Sven Gerling, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service, said: “At about 8pm, we saw a tragic accident happen here on Breitscheidplatz. A lorry drove through the crowds of people. There are many people injured, many seriously injured ... People have been killed.

“We are at the scene with a large number of vehicles, the police are too. We are now going to ascertain the deaths, and look after the many injured. There are several resuscitations still going on. We are trying to save a number of lives.”