Berlin – A large truck rammed into a Christmas market in a busy shopping district in western Berlin late Monday in what German authorities say is likely to have been a terrorist attack.
WHAT WE KNOW
– At least 12 people were killed and 48 others injured when the truck ploughed through numerous stands at the market near Berlin’s Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church at around 8 pm (1900 GMT).
– Security sources say the information available thus far indicates the incident may have been an Islamist terrorist attack.
– The driver of the truck fled the scene immediately after the attack.
– A man believed to be the driver was taken into custody shortly afterwards a few kilometres away.
– The detained man likely came to Germany as a refugee in February and was either from Afghanistan or Pakistan.
– A dead man, who police say was a Polish citizen, was found on the truck’s passenger seat.
– German police said they were working on the assumption that the truck had been stolen from a construction site in Poland.
– The truck belonged to a Polish freight company, and the owner said he had been unable to reach the driver, who was his cousin, since 4 pm.
– Though police warned Berlin residents to remain indoors, authorities said shortly afterwards that there was no evidence of further threats in the area surrounding the Christmas market.
– Berlin’s mayor Michael Mueller said the situation in the capital was under control after the deadly attack.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
– The identities of the suspect in custody and that of the dead Polish citizen on the passenger seat are unconfirmed.
– Although security authorities believe the suspect was from Pakistan or Afghanistan, exact identification was difficult as the man had used different names.
– The circumstances surrounding the suspect’s arrest were unclear.
– It was not clear how the Polish citizen on the passenger seat died.
– There was contradictory information about what happened to the truck shortly before the attack. While police were working on the assumption the truck was stolen from a Polish building site, the owner of the truck company said the driver was on his way from Italy to Berlin.
-dpa
