The number of people who were killed when a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin has risen to 12, German police have said. The truck on Monday rammed into the market outside the popular market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. At least 48 people were injured, police said. On Tuesday morning, Berlin police tweeted that investigators assumed the driver of the truck "deliberately steered into the crowd at the Christmas market". Ambulances and heavily armed officers rushed to the area, after the driver mounted the pavement of the market in a square popular with tourists.
Photos and video posted to social media showed rescue workers at the scene of the incident in the centre of Berlin where the truck had eventually stopped. One social media user, Emma Rushton, said that people were "crushed", and that the truck had been "going too fast" at around 60 kilometres per hour.
Witness Jan Hollitzer told that the truck drove about 50 metres through the market. "It was really horrible, there were many casualties and injured people," he said. "I saw people hit by the truck and also people under the truck ... I can tell you those are images you don't want to see." The truck was travelling "very fast" through a pedestrianised area, Hollitzer said. Witness Mike Fox told the Associated Press news agency that the truck missed him by only about three metres as it drove into the market, tearing through tables and wooden stands. "It was definitely deliberate," said the tourist from Birmingham, England. He said he helped people who appeared to have broken limbs, and that others were trapped under Christmas stands.
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