At Least One Dead, Several Injured After Car Plows Into Crowd In Berlin

Topline

At least one person was killed and dozens were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd of people in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday morning, police said.

Key Facts

According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the incident took place at around 10:30 am local time in Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighborhood.

“More than a dozen” people have been injured (earlier reports placed that number at 30), Reuters reported citing a police spokesperson, five of whom have life-threatening injuries.

A silver Renault Clio drove into the crowd before coming to a stop as it crashed into the window of a cosmetics store on the street, German tabloid Bild reported, later confirmed by Berlin police.

The driver of the car, who tried to flee the scene, was caught by onlookers and was then arrested by police at the scene, the report added.

Berlin police tweeted the driver was a 29-year-old German-Armenian man but they have still not been able to establish if the incident was an accident or a deliberate attack.

Key Background

Wednesday’s incident took place close to the site of one of the deadliest vehicle-ramming attacks in Germany, when a Tunisian man affiliated to the Islamic State hijacked a truck and drove it into a crowd at a Christmas market in 2016. That attack resulted in the deaths of 12 people and left 55 others injured, while the perpetrator was eventually shot dead by Italian police after an international manhunt. Since the 2016 attack in Berlin, Europe has witnessed multiple vehicle ramming attacks carried out by individuals who have sworn allegiance to Islamist extremist outfits.

Further Reading

Car drives into crowd on Berlin shopping street, one dead (Reuters)

1 dead, 8 injured after driver hits pedestrians in Berlin (Associated Press)