CHRISTMAS TERROR CARNAGE

By Laura Burnip and Rebecca Pinnington

A LORRY has ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing several and injuring 50 others in what police believe is a deliberate attack.

ISIS is believed to have claimed responsibility for the attack according to Iraqi sources, reports the Washington Times, with the truck reported to have ploughed into crowds at 40mph.

The crash happened in Breitscheidplatz, a major public square in the city in a chilling echo of the deadly terror attack in Nice in July.

Several of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition after being trapped underneath the lorry.

Casualties were being treated at the scene with dozens stretchered away, while others were treated on the ground unable to be moved.

Police arrested the driver – said to be of Eastern European appearance by eyewitnesses – after launching a huge man hunt. A passenger in the truck, which had Polish plates, died at the scene.

But neither the driver or the passenger are believed to be from Poland, according to Polish media, leading to speculation the lorry was stolen.

A triage tent has been set up at the scene to treat and assess casualties, with 50 people reported to be injured.

One eyewitness told the Berliner Morgenpost he heard a “loud popping” followed by “hysterical screams”.

The vehicle mounted the pavement before crashing into a crowd of shoppers, tearing through stalls and ploughing the entire length of the packed market on Breitscheidplatz Square in west Berlin.

Horrifying pictures show wounded people being treated at the scene and debris from the attack strewn across the road.

The attack has not been officially confirmed as a terror incident, but federal prosecutors – who traditionally deal with terrorism incidents – are reported to be taking over the investigation from police.

A number of casualties interviewed by German media are also believed to be refugees.

German police warned people to stay at home after the crash and “not spread rumours” via Twitter.

The truck has Polish licence plates and the wife of its driver told a Polish television station she had not heard from her husband since 4pm today.

Polish media are reporting that neither the arrested driver nor the passenger are employees of the haulage company.

The employee’s cousin also told the channel he could not imagine he had carried out the attack and believed he had been kidnapped.

Police are investigating whether it could have been stolen.

German president Joachim Gauck said: “It’s a terrible evening for Berlin and for our country, that upsets me as it does many others.

The mayor of Berlin Michael Muller told Das Bild the situation was under control.

He said his thoughts were with the families of the dead and injured.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reported to be “mourning the dead”, while Christian Schmidt, Minister of Food and Agriculture, condemned the “abominable attack”.

He said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the dead, their loved ones, and the injured.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and consideration.

“One thing is clear to me: we also need a spirit of determination. No hesitation in the governmental fight against terrorism; instead, decisive action.

“All those who wield political power are commanded to take on board the realities of this threat. This is the hour of national and international unity.”

Berlin’s interior senator Andreas Geisel told German news: “This is a horrific event. But it won’t change the way we live life here in Berlin.”

A crying woman was heard shouting “an idiot drove into the crowd!” reports Das Bild.

“I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos…many injured people,'” Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor in chief of Berliner Morgenpost, told CNN. “It was really traumatic.”

The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, located in the square, simply posted The Lord’s Prayer on its Facebook page in response to the attack.

Richard Clarkson, from Brighton, told the Irish Independent he was at a bar called Irish Bar with his friends on the street near were the incident happened.

One of his friends heard a bang. He said: “I just walked out and I saw the truck, the windscreen was broken, I didn’t see any bodies they were very quick to cover them up I think.”

“The word terrorist is being thrown around a lot at the moment and people seem scared.”

French president Francois Hollande released a statement expressing his “solidarity and compassion to Chancellor Merkel, the German people and the families of victims of Berlin.”

The attack is believed to be a copycat of the Nice attack in which 84 people were killed after a lorry ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day.

The driver drove for over a mile through crowds on the Promenade des Anglais in the French city before being shot by police.
President Francois Hollande said the attack was of “an undeniable terrorist nature”.
He said the battle against terrorism would be long as France faced “an enemy who will continue to hit countries who see liberty as their essential value”.
The attack in Nice began shortly after the end of a firework display on the seafront for Bastille Day, which is the country’s national holiday.

Those caught up in the attacks shared pictures on social media in the immediate aftermath.

Tourist Emma Rushton, from England, tweeted from the scene: “Lorry just ploughed through Christmas market in #berlin. People crushed. I am safe. I am safe.”

It comes weeks after ISIS threatened massacres at Christmas markets and events.

Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, issued a statement in reaction to the attack and incidents in Zurich, Switzerland, and Ankara, Turkey.

She said: “Our thoughts are with all those killed and injured in the horrific incident in Berlin, and with their families. We stand united in sorrow and solidarity with all the people of Germany, as well as with all those affected by today’s attacks in Switzerland and Turkey.

“Christmas is above all a time for peace and togetherness, and if what we have seen in Berlin and elsewhere today are shown to be deliberate, terrorist attacks, let us remember that our peace and togetherness are exactly what these evil individuals are trying to destroy, and that we must never let them succeed in that aim.

“Let us prove instead that – by people of all nations, creeds and colours standing strong together – we can defeat all those who simply want to sow war, division and hate.”

The attack happened just hours after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in an art gallery in Ankara.

And three people were shot and injured at an Islamic prayer centre in Zurich, Switzerland, this afternoon.

The US State Department revealed it had “credible information” that Islamic State and other Islamist terror groups were plotting massacres across Europe in the lead-up to Christmas.

The attack comes just days after organisers of a festive market in Birmingham installed concrete barriers over fears of a terror attack.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2437904/lorry-crashes-christmas-market-berlin/