At least nine people have been left dead and 50 people injured after a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Germany on Monday evening local time, police say.
German police say a man suspected to be the driver of the black Scania truck with Polish licence plates has been arrested near the scene. It is also being reported that a passenger in the truck has died at the scene.
It is not yet known why the truck veered away from the road and into the Breitscheidplatz market near the Kurfuerstendamm and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a popular shopping area in west Berlin. One eye-witness reported seeing the semi-trailer travelling at approximately 60km/ph as it drove into the popular market.
Local media said the first indications pointed to an attack but are yet to speak about motivations or release any further information.
Police cars and ambulances have converged on the scene and people are being treated on the ground.
Many are comparing the horrific scenes to that of the Nice terror attack, with one tourist from England telling the Associated Press "It was definitely deliberate."
Australian tourist Trisha O'Neill was at the markets at the time of the attack and said, "I could hear screaming and then we all froze. Then suddenly people started to move and lift all the wreckage off people, trying to help whoever was there.
"Eventually we had to and there was blood and bodies everywhere," she said.
"People, including children and older people, weren't moving — people were crying and I just burst into tears."
The popular market was filled with a number of stalls selling handmade jewellery, crafts, sweets, mulled wine and other Christmas treats. There was also a mini-ferris wheel and carousels for children.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is being briefed on the situation but is yet to address the public.
Top Comments
Our condolences to the victims and their families.
German police have told people to stay in their homes and not spread rumours. So I guess their government doesn't want any complaints or protests.
I wonder what could be the common thread in all this violence and murder of innocents ?...Hmmm...what...could..it...be ?
That it's men doing all the killing? There's that.
I'm still waiting to hear more details before I can say anything since I like facts, however this sort of deflecting obfuscation and inferring it is a man/woman thing rather than something else is intentionally missing the point of the original poster and I think you know it.
Shhhh. Can't possibly be that. Then you're lumping white men in as equals with brown men and we all know how sensitive white men are about that.
Yes of course I know exactly the point that the original poster is trying to make. I'm just suggesting that there are heaps and heaps of other common threads in terms of these killings. Do I actually think that this is even remotely gender related? Of course I don't.