Berlin Christmas market: 9 dead, at least 50 injured in truck crash

[Stephan Bobb]

Berlin Christmas market: 9 dead, at least 50 injured in truck crash

By Darran Simon, Ralph Ellis and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN

Updated 5:15 PM ET, Mon December 19, 2016

Story highlights

•  A suspect believed to be the driver is in custody
• The crash is being investigated as an act of terrorism, official says
• Berlin police: Multiple dead, at least 50 injured

Berlin (CNN)A truck barreled into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing nine and injuring at least 50. Officials are investigating the crash as an act of terrorism, according to a German intelligence official familiar with the matter.

Authorities have apprehended the suspected driver, according to a police spokesman.

The crash occurred in Breitscheidplatz in the western part of central Berlin. Another person who was in the truck died on scene, Berlin police tweeted.

"A truck just ran over a sidewalk at #Breitscheidplatz Our colleague report multiple injuries. more to follow," Berlin police tweeted.

The crash sent shoppers running and screaming.

Witness Emma Rushton told CNN that the truck didn't slow down. She said the truck was traveling about 40 mph through a crowded pedestrian area.

"There's no way it was an accident," Rushton said. "We saw at least 10 people" injured and lying on the ground, she added.

Another witness, Shandana Durrani, told CNN she was leaving and texting when the truck rammed into the market.

"I think everybody thought there was a terrorist attack happening," she said. "People dropped what they were carrying and ran for cover. ... It seemed like the truck just jumped the curb and took a wrong turn and barreled through the crowd."

She said the truck passed about 20 feet from her and crushed about three stalls.

Video from the scene showed the vehicle was a tractor-trailer.

Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor-in-chief of local newspaper Berliner Morgenpost, said he saw people underneath the truck when it came to a stop.

 

Photos: Truck plows through Berlin Christmas market

Rescue workers respond to the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, December 19. At least nine people were killed and at least 50 others were injured, police said.

Photos: Truck plows through Berlin Christmas market

Rescue workers respond to the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, December 19. At least nine people were killed and at least 50 others were injured, police said.

German officials have been concerned about security around Christmas markets, which are the main place for holiday shopping.

The US State Department alerted US citizens in November to the heightened risk of terrorist attacks throughout Europe, especially during the holiday season. The alert, which encouraged citizens to be cautious at the holiday festivals, expires on February 20.

Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief at German tabloid Bild, told CNN that the market would be busy every night of the week leading up to Christmas.

A Christmas tree lies next to a truck that slammed into a Christmas market at Gedächniskirche church in Berlin, killing at least nine people and injuring at least 50 people.

"It looks like something that was adapted by Nice," Reichelt said, referring to the Bastille Day truck attack in France that killed more than 80 people and injured more than 400.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement that he was "deeply shaken by the awful news."

"My deeply felt condolences is with the families, close ones and friends of the victims," he said.

Germany's deadly year

The incident in Berlin is the latest in a string of attacks in Germany over the past 12 months.

July 2016

On July 24, a Syrian suicide bomber injured 15 people in an attack on a music festival in Ansbach. He left behind a video pledging allegiance to ISIS.

Days earlier, nine people were killed in Munich by an 18-year-old gunman with dual German and Iranian nationality. The gunman committed suicide. His motives were unclear.

Four days prior to that, an immigrant teen, apparently inspired by ISIS, stabbed five passengers on a train in Bavaria. Police shot the teenager, an Afghan refugee who was armed with a knife and an ax.

June 2016

Three Syrian men were arrested in June on suspicion of planning a terror attack on Dusseldorf on behalf of ISIS.

May 2016

A German man killed one person and injured three others in a May knife attack at a train station in Bavaria.

Witnesses told police the attacker had shouted out "Allahu akbar" and "Infidels must die" as he carried out the attacks. But intelligence services said they knew of no link between him and Islamist networks.

December 31, 2015

On New Year's Eve 2015, two train stations in Munich were evacuated and train service stopped among concerns of a possible terror plot.

The planned suicide attacks were reported to be connected to ISIS, officials said.

CNN's Laura Goehler and Donie O'Sullivan contributed to this report.