{"id":278103,"date":"2016-12-20T05:40:22","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T05:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=278103"},"modified":"2016-12-20T05:40:22","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T05:40:22","slug":"migrant-detained-over-berlin-lorry-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/migrant-detained-over-berlin-lorry-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Migrant’ detained over Berlin lorry attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
German police are questioning a man they believe ploughed a lorry into a busy Christmas market in the heart of Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48.<\/p>\n
The driver is an Afghan or Pakistani asylum seeker, according to security sources cited by DPA news agency.<\/p>\n
He reportedly arrived in Germany in February as a refugee.<\/p>\n
The daily Tagesspiegel said the man was known to the police for minor crimes, but not terror links.<\/p>\n
German politicians have avoided branding the bloodshed a suspected terror attack at this stage, but interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told ARD television, “there are many things pointing to one”.<\/p>\n
Berlin Police said investigators were treating the crash as a deliberate act.<\/p>\n
The stricken market is at Breitscheidplatz, close to the Kurfuerstendamm, the main shopping street in Berlin’s west.<\/p>\n
The deadly incident unfolded in the shadow of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was damaged in a World War Two bombing raid and preserved as a symbol of peace.<\/p>\n
The truck, which was loaded with steel beams, veered into the market at one of its busiest times, crashing through wooden huts and stands packed with tourists and locals.<\/p>\n
The lorry driver was reportedly seized after leaving his truck and fleeing the carnage on foot.<\/p>\n
Berlin police spokesman Winfried Wenzel told the German newspaper die Welt that the man ran down the street towards the Tiergarten, a large public park.<\/p>\n
A witness followed him at a distance for over a mile (2 km), and called the police, who quickly detained him near the Victory Column monument.<\/p>\n
The police spokesman speculated that the driver may have wanted to “find shelter in the darkness of the park”.<\/p>\n
Hijacking fears<\/strong><\/p>\n Police confirmed that a passenger was found dead in the lorry, and said he was a Polish national. There are fears he may have been the original driver of the vehicle, and that he was subject to a hijacking.<\/p>\n Ariel Zurawski, the Polish owner of the lorry, confirmed that his driver was missing and had been unreachable since 16:00 (15:00 GMT) on Monday.<\/p>\n “We haven’t heard from him since this afternoon,” he told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n “We don’t know what happened to him. He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him.”<\/p>\n