ANOTHER TRUCK ATTACK …
At least nine people were killed and more than fifty were injured when a truck plowed through a crowded Christmas marketplace in West Berlin on Monday evening.
The incident – eerily reminiscent of a July terrorist attack in Nice, France that killed 86 people – occurred at Breitscheidplatz Square near the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church.
German authorities quickly labeled the incident a “deliberate attack,” with one witness estimating the truck was traveling at around forty miles per hour when it slammed into the crowd.
“There was no road nearby and no signs it was slowing down,” witness Emma Rushton wrote on Twitter. “It did not feel like an accident. There was no way it could have come off like an accident, it was through the middle of the market.”
Initial reports from German media indicated the driver of the truck fled the scene immediately following the incident, although this suspect was reportedly apprehended shortly thereafter near Berlin’s Victory Column.
One other alleged terrorist died during the attack – which took place at around 8:00 p.m. local time.
One German media outlet – Die Welt – reported that officials were aware for “several days” of indications of a “possible attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.”
Developing …
(Banner via Twitter)