A vehicle struck a crowd of people in a popular shopping area in Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighborhood on Wednesday. The suspected driver is now in police custody. Authorities said one person lost their life, and several suffered life-threatening injuries.
German news agency DPA and the Bild mass-circulation daily reported that police have found a “confession letter” in the suspect’s car. However, a police spokesman contacted by DW said they had no knowledge of a confession letter.
He also said that most of the people injured were students visiting from the central German state of Hesse.
“This is the group he drove into,” the officer said.
When asked about a possible motive, police said that the investigation was “still open and there are no conclusive results yet.”
Separately, the interior ministry for Berlin, which is also one of German federal states, said that “placards” and “writing” were said to be found inside a car.
What we know so far
The incident happened around 10:30 am local time (0830 UTC) on the street of Tauentzienstrasse near the popular Kurfürstendamm shopping boulevard in western Berlin
According to witnesses, the man drove his Renault vehicle onto the sidewalk, then back on the road, until finally crashing into a shop window.
Emergency services confirmed that at least one person had died and eight were wounded — at least five of them with life-threatening injuries. The person who lost her life at the scene has been identified as a schoolteacher from Hesse, said Berlin’s Interior Minister Iris Spranger.
DW reporter Joel Dullroy, who is on the scene, said those who were injured appeared to be “young people.”
Dozens of emergency personnel responded to the scene and are investigating the site.
“This is a very busy shopping area, it’s a very busy time in Berlin with lots of tourists here. It’s actually very lucky that there weren’t more people injured given the number of people who were out and about shopping here at the moment,” Dullroy said.
What do we know about the driver?
Authorities said the suspected driver was detained by passers-by before officers arrived on the scene.
Police said the suspected driver was a 29-year-old German-Armenian living in Berlin.
Berlin police spokesman Martin Dams said it was unclear whether the incident was the result of an accident or whether the driver had intentionally driven into the crowd.
“They are very keen to stress that they are unclear on the potential motive or the cause. They did point out there have been accidents in the past year here in Berlin involving people having medical emergencies and running cars onto pavements,” DW’s Joel Dullroy reported.
Officials ‘deeply affected’ by news of crash
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said she was “deeply affected by the incident” and closely watching developments.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that the body’s “thoughts are with the loved ones of the person killed and with all the survivors.”
The incident took place close to the scene of a fatal attack on December 19, 2016, when Islamist extremist Anis Amri, hijacked a truck, killed the driver and then plowed it into a crowded Christmas market in Breitscheidplatz. The attack killed 11 other people and injured dozens of others.
Contributed reporting from DW’s Alistair Walsh.
dj, es/fb, rs (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-car-drives-into-crowd-in-berlin-1-dead/a-62047107?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom