The driver, recognized by police as a German-Armenian nationwide, ploughed into pedestrians on a sidewalk round 10:30 a.m. close to Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a widely known Berlin landmark. The automobile then crashed into a store window on an adjoining avenue, in accordance with the town’s police and hearth division.
Iris Spranger, Berlin’s prime safety official, mentioned the girl killed was a trainer accompanying a gaggle of highschool college students on a visit from the German state of Hesse.
Fourteen of these college students are among the many injured, Berlin police mentioned, including that their family members have been knowledgeable.
Six folks sustained life-threatening accidents and three others have been severely harm, the Berlin hearth division mentioned. In complete, 17 folks have been injured, it mentioned.
The driver was apparently detained by members of the general public on the scene after which arrested by a police officer within the space, Berlin police spokesman Thilo Cablitz mentioned. Police are attempting to find out whether or not the person intentionally rammed into the gang or whether or not it was an accident, presumably attributable to a medical emergency, he added.
The suspect is at the moment within the hospital, Berlin Police President Barbara Slowik mentioned in a information convention on Wednesday afternoon.
“We at the moment would not have conclusive proof for a politically motivated act,” Slowik mentioned.
Police have known as on members of the general public to submit movies or photos from the scene in order that officers can overview them for clues.
Investigators are within the strategy of looking the person’s automobile, a small silver Renault, however there was no letter of confession discovered contained in the car, as beforehand reported by some native media retailers, Spranger mentioned.
“I’m advised there are posters within the automobile however there are not any precise letters of confession. But one must be very cautious with such statements,” Spranger added.
More than 130 emergency companies personnel responded to the incident, Berlin’s mayor, Franziska Giffey, mentioned in a submit on Twitter thanking them for his or her fast motion.
“I’m deeply affected by this incident. We know that there’s one lifeless and there are a number of severely injured. The police are working urgently to make clear the scenario,” Giffey tweeted.
Videos and pictures shared on social media confirmed blankets overlaying what gave the impression to be a physique in an space cordoned off by police and a helicopter circling above.
Scottish-American actor John Barrowman, who was on the scene, mentioned that the automobile careened onto the pavement and hit folks earlier than crashing right into a storefront window. “I heard the bang and the crash after we have been in a retailer after which we got here out and we simply noticed the automobile,” he mentioned in a video posted on Twitter, including that he noticed various folks with accidents.
Wednesday’s incident unfolded close to the spot of a deadly assault on December 19, 2016, when Anis Amri, a Tunisian nationwide with Islamist terrorist hyperlinks, rammed a tractor trailer truck right into a crowded Christmas market, killing 12 folks and injuring 48. Amri was later shot lifeless by police in Italy.