12 Dead, At Least 50 Injured After Truck Plows Into Berlin Christmas Market
By Darran Simon
BERLIN, GERMANY (CBS/CNN) -- Twelve people are dead after a tractor trailer slammed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, police said in tweets. Officials said 48 people are in the hospital, some with serious injuries.
Police told The Associated Press that the driver of the truck has been arrested. A passenger in the truck died.
A German intelligence official told CNN the crash is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
PHOTOS: Police Dealing With Aftermath Of Fatal Berlin Truck Crash
"A truck just ran over a sidewalk at #Breitscheidplatz Our colleague report multiple injuries. more to follow," Berlin police tweeted.
One witness Emma Rushton tweeted: "People crushed. I am safe. I am safe."
The incident happened in Breitscheidplatz in western Berlin.
Rushton, who was in the market when the truck came through, told CNN that the truck didn't slow down.
"We saw at least 10 people" injured and lying on the ground, she said.
Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief at Bild, a German tabloid newspaper, said the market would be busy every night of the week leading up to Christmas.
The market is difficult to access by accident.
"It looks like something that was adapted by Nice," Reichelt said, referring to the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France, that left at least 80 people dead and more than 400 injured.
Police could not confirm whether Monday's incident in Berlin was related to terror and had no information on the driver.
However, several people in the U.S. intelligence community told CBS News this incident has all the hallmarks of a terror attack and that it bears similarities to the recent terror attack in Nice, France.
CBS News reports police in Germany have recently detained several people for planning attacks on Christmas markets, including a 12-year-old Iraqi boy who attempted to set off a nail bomb in one of them.
One witness said the truck had a Polish license plate, according to Reichelt.
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