2016 Berlin Christmas market truck attack



On 19 December 2016, at about 20:00 local time, a truck ramming attack was made on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, killing twelve people and injuring 48 others. Police believe it was probably terrorism.

Attack


On 19 December 2016, at about 20:00 local time, a man drove a stolen truck through a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, killing twelve people. The truck drove 50 - 80 m, crossed a sidewalk at Breitscheidplatz and destroyed booths. Local police stated that the vehicle came from the direction of Budapester Strasse before finally coming to rest in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. A Polish man was found dead in the passenger seat of the truck cab, while the driver was reported to have fled towards the Victory Column and has been taken into custody.

German police have stated it was probably a terrorist attack.

Arrest
Police said that they had arrested the suspected driver of the truck near the scene. Die Welt reported the suspect is a male, 23-year old Pakistani or Afghan refugee Naved B (born on 1 January 1993), who had moved to Germany on 16 February 2016.

Vehicle
The vehicle involved was a black Scania R 450 semi-trailer truck. The truck bore Polish number plates and belonged to a Polish delivery company, Usługi Transportowe Ariel Żurawski, which is based in Sobiemyśl.

According to the head of the delivery company, his cousin was driving the truck to Berlin, but he could not imagine his cousin causing the crash. The company last contacted the driver between 15:00 and 16:00, when the driver reported that he had arrived too late at the destination company in Berlin and that he had to wait there overnight and unload his truck the following morning. The truck was on its return leg to Poland, having started in Italy. The family had been unable to contact the driver since 16:00. The company that owns the truck suspected it had been hijacked based on its GPS coordinates.