Berlin police assume truck was deliberately driven into Christmas market

A firefighter walks in front of a truck at the site of the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square. The nationality of the suspected driver, who fled the crash scene and was later arrested, was unclear, they said.

Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, said: “It is important that we find this suspect, and that’s why it is important to carry out an undercover search”. He entered Germany on December 31, 2015, and arrived in Berlin in February.

Federal prosecutors said the man, a Pakistani citizen who came to Germany a year ago as an asylum-seeker, denied involvement in the attack that killed 12 people and injured almost 50 others.

Authorities this morning began the grisly task of clearing the scene of an atrocity that has shocked a Germany gearing up for the festive season.

German security authorities had long warned about the vulnerability to terror attacks of the popular open-air Christmas markets, where revelers celebrate the holiday season by drinking mulled wine while eating sausages and candies.

The man was identified by a cousin who owned the truck company where the man had been a driver. The Polish driver of the truck was found dead in the vehicle’s passenger seat.

While prosecutors said that the attack pointed to the modus operandi of radical Islamist groups, they had not established a motive.

Berlin police tweeted that they were “particularly alert” because of the arrested man’s denial of any involvement.

Police said the truck was steered deliberately.

De Maiziere said a meeting of interior ministers of federal states agreed to keep the markets open and evaluate possible additional security on a case-by-case basis.

“As a matter of routine, as a precaution, we review our plans after attacks overseas, and we are doing so at present following the terrible incidents in Berlin and Ankara last night”.

The police thanked traders around the market for taking care of the wounded and for helping the police. Later, Merkel and German President Joachim Gauck also attended a memorial service at the church nearby.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the events, but the so-called Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has previously called on followers to carry out terrorist strikes in Europe.

Twelve people were killed and around 50 injured, some critically, when a truck ploughed into a crowd in the German capital.

The attack bears a striking resemblance to the July attack in the city of Nice in France where a Tunisian-born man barreled through a crowded beachfront in the city on Bastille Day, killing 86 people.