Berlin attack: Truck ploughs into German Christmas market, kills 12

A suspected asylum seeker has been detained by German police after a truck was driven into a packed Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and hurting dozens more on Monday night. The incident is alleged to be a terror attack.

Around 8 p.m. local time, a large lorry was driven, believed to be deliberately, into a crowd at the annual Christmas market near the Zoologische Garten train station, ploughing the revellers in the process. At least 50 were injured and 12 were killed after the truck veered off the road and smashed into the booths.

The truck had Polish licence plates and carried steel beams. Police said that they had taken into custody a man they suspected to be the driver. He was arrested 2km from the scene after witnesses gave his description to the police. It is still not confirmed if the arrested man was the driver. A male passenger, whom police had earlier identified as Polish, had died at the scene.

The Polish owner of the lorry told AFP that the vehicle was supposed to transport steel products from Italy to Berlin. The driver had been due to take a break in Berlin but he had not been heard from since Monday afternoon.

“We don’t know what happened to him,” owner Ariel Zurawski told AFP. “He’s my cousin. I’ve known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him.”

According to unconfirmed reports, the driver was an asylum seeker from Pakistan or from Afghanistan who had record for minor crimes. He apparently arrived in Germany in February.

Although eyewitnesses claimed the truck deliberately ploughed people, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has refused to call it an attack yet.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet, although there are many things pointing to one,” he told public television. He explained that using the word would have a psychological effect in the whole country. “And we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation.”

Investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed there were no Australian citizens injured in the Berlin incident.