Updated December 20, 2016 22:14:00
The ramming of a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people is being considered a terrorist attack, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, adding that the perpetrator may have been an asylum seeker.
Key points:
- Police say man found dead in truck wasn't in control of vehicle
- Arrested driver is asylum seeker, local media reports
- Attack could have ramifications for Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel
The truck crashed into people gathered around wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in the heart of former West Berlin on Monday evening, in an incident that also injured 48 people.
"There is much we still do not know with sufficient certainty but we must, as things stand now, assume it was a terrorist attack," Ms Merkel said.
"I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that [the] person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum.
"This would be particularly sickening for the many, many Germans who work to help refugees every day and for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country."
She promised that every detail would be cleared up and the perpetrator would be punished with the full force of the law.
Police said they had taken one suspect into custody and investigators believe the driver of the truck hit people intentionally.
"Our investigators assume that the truck was deliberately steered into the crowd at the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz," police said on Twitter.
"All police measures related to the suspected terrorist attack at Breitscheidplatz are progressing at full steam and with the necessary diligence."
Berlin police are stepping up armed patrols "as a precaution" after the apparent attack and the popular Christmas markets in the capital will remain closed on Tuesday.
Police said a man found dead in the truck was a Polish citizen, but added he was not in control of the vehicle.
The arrested driver of the truck was a 23-year-old from Pakistan named Naved B, German newspaper Bild reported.
Citing sources involved in the investigation, Bild added that the man arrived in Germany around a year ago.
Local broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg cited security sources as saying the man was born on January 1, 1993 in Pakistan and was already known to police for minor offences.
If that is confirmed, it could further worsen sentiment towards migrants in Germany, where more than a million people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived this year and last.
The record influx has hit Ms Merkel's popularity ratings and boosted support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Senior AfD member Marcus Pretzell on Twitter blamed Ms Merkel for the attack.
Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on ORF radio that he had told the heads of Austria's regional police forces to intensify surveillance measures, although there was no concrete evidence that an incident was about to happen.
Mr Sobotka also called for biometric and fingerprint checks to be introduced along the Balkan route to better control foreign jihadist fighters' movements.
Berlin police are investigating leads that the truck had been stolen from a construction site in Poland and have taken the truck for a forensic examination.
Australian witness describes terrifying scene
Australian woman Trisha O'Neill witness the carnage first-hand.
"I could hear screaming and then we all froze. Then suddenly people started to move and lift all the wreckage off people, trying to help whoever was there," she said.
"Eventually we had to and there was blood and bodies everywhere.
"People, including children and older people, weren't moving — people were crying and I just burst into tears."
Reuters
First posted December 20, 2016 18:56:58
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