A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing at least twelve people and injuring around 50.
According to information made available to local police, the incident was a planned terrorist attack targeting the market at the symbolic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
German police have arrested a suspect who is believed to be the driver, while a Polish male passenger died at the scene.
The attack was claimed by ISIS, but it is still unclear who is responsible.
The truck, which is owned by a Polish transport company, had left Italy and was en route to return to Poland via Germany.
The truck was allegedly scheduled to stop in Berlin to drop off a load of steel beams, and the driver, who is the cousin of the firm’s proprietor, had decided to stay in the German capital for the evening.
The agency has claimed to have lost contact with the truck at around 4:00 pm local time on Monday, and its proprietor, identified as Ariel Zurawski, has ruled out the possibility of his cousin executing the attack.
There are strong suggestions that the truck was hijacked during the trip.
The incident has brought back painful memories of the Nice attack in July, when Tunisian-born French resident, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, crashed a 19-tonne truck into a large crowd, killing 86 and injuring hundreds.
With ANSA
