Truck plows into crowded Berlin Christmas market, killing at least 9 people and injuring 50

BERLIN — A truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday night, killing at least 9 people and injuring 50 others.

The incident took place at a Christmas market outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the German capital.

The truck was loaded with steel beams. It was registered to a company in Poland, from where it traveled to Berlin on Monday afternoon, the Guardian reported. The company that owns the truck said it had been unable to contact the driver since 4 p.m. on Monday.

The truck jumped the sidewalk and crashed through several market stalls before coming to a stop. A passenger was found dead inside the vehicle while the driver allegedly fled the scene. Police made an arrest near the market but it is not yet confirmed whether the man was the driver.

German police believe the incident was an attack. It highly resembles the July terror attack in Nice, France when an Islamist extremist deliberately drove a 19-ton truck into the city’s promenade and killed 86 people.