BERLIN (AP) —German police say they’ve arrested a suspect believed to be the driver of a truck that rammed into a crowded Christmas market in the center of Berlin, killing at least nine and causing multiple injuries.
Police spokesman Winfried Wenzel told ZDF public television that the man was arrested near the scene.
The truck crashed into the market outside the capital’s popular Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
AP Television footage showed a large Scania truck with its windshield smashed out on the sidewalk alongside the market, with a swarm of ambulances nearby. A large Christmas tree with a gold star on top was toppled over nearby in the street.
Witness Mike Fox told The Associated Press at the scene that the large truck missed him by only about three meters 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.
In a brief update on Twitter, police said they were still investigating whether the incident was an accident or an attack.
Police and rescue workers swarmed the scene after the incident blocking access to the market itself, and firetrucks and ambulances whizzed by.