Post by Jaga on Dec 19, 2016 15:07:00 GMT -7
At least 9 dead as truck rams crowd in Berlin Christmas market
www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/at-least-9-dead-as-truck-rams-crowd-in-christmas-market/2016/12/19/a01c4968-c629-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-banner-high_berlin-345pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
BERLIN – A massive black truck plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday revelers in west Berlin on Monday, killing nine people and wounding dozens more.
The incident had echoes of the truck assault in the French city of Nice last August, which killed 86 people and was claimed by the Islamic State. But German authorities said it remained unclear whether terrorists were involved in Monday’s attack. Police said they had taken a suspect into custody who matched a description of the truck driver, and a dead body was found in the passenger side of the vehicle.
A devastating scene unfolded at the Christmas market, where the truck careened into the market shortly after 8 p.m., sending panicked people scattering. After steering the truck – which had a Polish license plate number -- onto the sidewalk, the driver drove between 50 and 80 yards, police said.
On the scene, first responders were carrying off people in stretchers Monday night as police with machine guns cordoned off the area.
“It’s terrible, just terrible,” said Berlin Mayor Michael Müller. He said it was up to authorities to establish the facts, adding, “we always hoped that we wouldn’t have this kind of situation in Berlin.”
Although Germany’s Bilt newspaper reported that authorities were investigating the attack as a possible act of terror, two senior security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said it was too early to determine the motive. Following the incident, police said, witnesses reported that the driver fled the scene, running toward Berlin’s sprawling central park knows as the Tiergarten.
The incident took place near Breitscheidtplatz in a chic shopping district in west Berlin, and at one the busiest of the city’s famous Christmas markets. Witnesses said fair goers were drinking traditional mulled wine and taking in the lights and sounds of the market when they heard a loud noise.
“We were enjoying the Christmas markets and some mulled wine,” one witness, Emma Rushton, told CNN. “We heard a loud bang and we started to see to our left Christmas lights were being torn down.” At that point, she said, she saw a truck crashing through the crowd.
The suspect, police said, was arrested near the towering Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten.
Although the motive behind the incident remained unclear, authorities for months have feared that terrorists might target Germany’s famous Christmas markets.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/at-least-9-dead-as-truck-rams-crowd-in-christmas-market/2016/12/19/a01c4968-c629-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-banner-high_berlin-345pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
BERLIN – A massive black truck plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday revelers in west Berlin on Monday, killing nine people and wounding dozens more.
The incident had echoes of the truck assault in the French city of Nice last August, which killed 86 people and was claimed by the Islamic State. But German authorities said it remained unclear whether terrorists were involved in Monday’s attack. Police said they had taken a suspect into custody who matched a description of the truck driver, and a dead body was found in the passenger side of the vehicle.
A devastating scene unfolded at the Christmas market, where the truck careened into the market shortly after 8 p.m., sending panicked people scattering. After steering the truck – which had a Polish license plate number -- onto the sidewalk, the driver drove between 50 and 80 yards, police said.
On the scene, first responders were carrying off people in stretchers Monday night as police with machine guns cordoned off the area.
“It’s terrible, just terrible,” said Berlin Mayor Michael Müller. He said it was up to authorities to establish the facts, adding, “we always hoped that we wouldn’t have this kind of situation in Berlin.”
Although Germany’s Bilt newspaper reported that authorities were investigating the attack as a possible act of terror, two senior security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said it was too early to determine the motive. Following the incident, police said, witnesses reported that the driver fled the scene, running toward Berlin’s sprawling central park knows as the Tiergarten.
The incident took place near Breitscheidtplatz in a chic shopping district in west Berlin, and at one the busiest of the city’s famous Christmas markets. Witnesses said fair goers were drinking traditional mulled wine and taking in the lights and sounds of the market when they heard a loud noise.
“We were enjoying the Christmas markets and some mulled wine,” one witness, Emma Rushton, told CNN. “We heard a loud bang and we started to see to our left Christmas lights were being torn down.” At that point, she said, she saw a truck crashing through the crowd.
The suspect, police said, was arrested near the towering Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten.
Although the motive behind the incident remained unclear, authorities for months have feared that terrorists might target Germany’s famous Christmas markets.