One person was reportedly killed and at least eight other people were injured in the incident after a man has driven his car into a crowd in the central Charlottenburg district of Berlin, German police says.
The Berlin fire department wrote on Twitter that around 60 emergency personnel are currently at the scene or on their way to the scene on the corner of Rankestrasse and Tauentzienstrasse, close to one of Berlin’s famous landmarks – the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
Drivers were urged by Berlin’s city traffic control center to avoid the area, which has been cordoned off by dozens of law enforcement officers since around 10:30 am local time when the incident had occurred.
The rescue workers that have arrived at the scene in the initial stages of the operation were assuming that around 30 people had been injured. The city police reported that the driver has been arrested, but that they have not yet determined if the motorist’s action was intentional or accidental.
Berliner Zeitung described the driver as a young person who initially ran away, but was stopped and handed over to police.
According to the eyewitnesses quoted in the German media, the car – a silver Renault – has ended up crashing into a shop window after it had driven at a high speed from the west, leaving a trail of destruction in its path behind.
The ramming incident took place close to the scene of the December 2016 fatal terrorist attack during which the Islamist extremist Anis Amri killed 11 other people and injured 56 other people after plowing with a hijacked truck – previously killing the driver – into a crowded Christmas market in Breitscheidplatz.
The Christmas market was operating next to the historic church.
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