Here is the latest:
- Local police confirm twelve people were killed, and 48 injured when a truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in east Berlin around 8:00pm on Monday evening.
- According to local police, the incident, which took place at the foot of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, is likely terror related
- According to information from German newspaper Die Welt, the alleged truck driver is from Pakistan, and is reported to have arrived as a refugee in Germany on 16 February 2016.
- The dead passenger was a Polish national.
- German police is urging Berliners to stay at home; Merkel is to be briefed by the German Interior Minister.
additionally, Die Welt reports Trump noting that...
The drama on the Berlin Christmas market is a "terrible terror attack". "Innocent civilians were murdered on the street when they were just about to celebrate the Christmas holidays," Trump wrote in a message.
"The Islamic state and other Islamic terrorists regularly slaughter Christians in their communities," Trump continues.
These
terrorists, their regional and world-wide networks would have to be
eradicated: "An order which we will carry out jointly with all partners
who are liberty-loving."
* * *
Earlier:
A truck plowed into a crowd at a busy Christmas market in western Berlin leaving at least nine dead according to Berlin police, and over 50 people injured. The driver of the truck has been arrested and his co-driver is said to have died during the crash.
Wir können 9 Tote & viele Verletzte bestätigen. Viele Kolleg. sind am #Breitscheidplatz im Einsatz um die Hintergründe zu ermitteln.
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) December 19, 2016
Local media, citing police at the scene, said first indications pointed to an attack on the market, situated in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a popular site for tourists. A police spokesperson told German media that they are treating the truck incident in Berlin as a terrorist attack.
"I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos...many injured people," Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor in chief of Berliner Morgenpost, told CNN. "It was really traumatic."
The vehicle "drove sideways" onto the pavement at Breitscheidplatz, a major public square, reported Polizei Berlin.
Police cars and ambulances converged quickly on the scene as a huge security operation unfolded.
Images of the collision aftermath show the area cordoned off with emergency services and police attending the scene
LKW rast auf Weihnachtsmarkt in Berlin. Polizei geht von Anschlag aus. Mehrere Tote, viele Verletzte. Informationen: https://t.co/hOTEvlOlQh pic.twitter.com/StrCcQVWXg
— BILD (@BILD) December 19, 2016
A spokeswoman for the Berlin police said that around 8:00 p.m. local time a semitrailer truck drove onto the sidewalk drove onto the sidewalk near Breitscheidplatz. After hitting the people, the truck then swerved back into the street where it came to a stop, she said.
Two people were in the truck as it smashed into the Christmas market, a police spokesperson told Berlin Morgenpost. German newspaper Die Welt is reporting that the driver of the truck, who is currently in custody, was from Pakistan and entered Germany on February 16, 2016. The passenger, a polish national, was detained at the scene but later died, the official said.
German media reports the driver was a Pakistani known to authorities.https://t.co/ElxaeyjbDi
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) December 19, 2016
Meanwhile German police has called on Berliners to "stay at home" after the deadly truck attack.
Television pictures from Berlin showed the truck standing amid debris by small wooden stalls that make up the "Christkindlmarkt" of which there are several in Berlin at this time of year. Police cars and ambulances converged on the scene.
Reuters reports that the German Interior minister to brief German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Berlin’s mayor about the Christmas market incident, according to Reuters.
Later in the day, US National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price condemned “what appears to have been a terrorist attack” on the Berlin Christmas market.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed, just as we wish a speedy recovery to all of those wounded. We also extend our heartfelt condolences to the people and Government of Germany.”
White House statement on attack in Berlin, Germany pic.twitter.com/Hl3gBuW2a9
— Jason Calabretta (@JasonCalabretta) December 19, 2016
* * *
An eye witness, British tourist Emma Rushton, was speaking to CNN from her hotel room in Berlin. She said:
We were enjoying the Christmas lights when we heard a loud bang. We were sitting down, ready to get up. We saw to our left Christmas lights torn down and we saw the top of an articulated lorry crashing through the stalls and through people.
The lorry was driving fast, and it showed few signs that it was slowing down. We wanted to get out as soon as possible, we wanted to get to a safe place.
She said she considered stopping to help the wounded, but decided it was too dangerous to remain in the area, and instead returned to her hotel.
From my opinion, it was going at 40mph, there was no road nearby and no signs it was slowing down. It did not feel like an accident...there was no way it could have come off like an accident, it was through the middle of the market.
If it did not feel like an accident it is perhaps because it is now being considered as the latest act of terrorism.
* * *
What is notable about this attack, and what may led to even more populist anger, is that as we reported last night, on November 21, the state department warned Americans travelling to Europe to be aware of possible terrorist attacks on Christmas markets
U.S. citizens should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets. This Travel Alert expires on February 20, 2017.
Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh), al-Qa'ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.
U.S. citizens should also be alert to the possibility that extremist sympathizers or self-radicalized extremists may conduct attacks during this period with little or no warning. Terrorists may employ a wide variety of tactics, using both conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.
We are confident Merkel will be asked why she didn't give out a similar warning to her own citizens.
The Police have said that the first indications from the ongoing investigation suggest the truck crash was an attack on the Christmas market.
BREAKING: Reports: Truck runs into crowded Christmas market in Berlin; multiple injuries reported.
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 19, 2016
PT: Breitscheidplatz in downtown Berlin. Police suspects terror attack. pic.twitter.com/Tu8LCGTd8U
— Tobias Schneider (@tobiaschneider) December 19, 2016
Lorry just ploughed through Christmas market in #berlin. There is no road nearby. People crushed. I am safe. I am safe pic.twitter.com/63iWMmdSKr
— Emma Rushton (@ERushton) December 19, 2016
Photos du camion qui a foncé dans un marché de Noël à Berlin pic.twitter.com/M2SoheaFAj
— LesNews (@LesNews) December 19, 2016
German media: Police say first indications from investigation suggest truck crash was an attack on Christmas market in Berlin
— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) December 19, 2016
Police said that “numerous” people had been injured, but there is presently no information on potential fatalities.
Truck drives into a crowded Christmas Market in #Germany's #Berlin.
Many people injured. Many unconscious on the ground. Reports of a shot.— Polla Garmiany (@PollaGarmiany) December 19, 2016
Camión atropella a varias personas en un abarrotado mercado navideño en Berlín y se habla de muchos heridos - @InfobaeAmerica . (@DannyNis) pic.twitter.com/UyatRwzkvo
— Opy (@OpyMorales) December 19, 2016
THANKS MERKEL
The Religion of Peace Strikes again. Quick, learn Arabic and start wearing Ha-jibs that will surely make them stop. Maybe if the Germans just stopped being German and gave up their culture entirely that will appease them into stopping this.
So it begins...
Begins, where have you been? "So it continues" is more like it.
How many must die before we have sensible truck control laws?
You are right, all Trucks banned immediately.
Nobody but government employees really needs an automatic, full-capacity truck.
Can the space UNDER the truck be considered a “safe space”? ;-)
Looney
Can't these terrorists read?
It is a Truck Free zone.
Ban Christmas markets!
Germans must demand waiting periods to rent a truck in Germany!
For zee children!
The families of zee victims should sue zee truck manufacturer!!!!
Damn. The Zionists are mad they cant steal Syria.....fucking crybabies.
PIZZAGATE
RIPS
Mopping up the blood? "Wir schaffen das!"
Thank you Merkel and thanks to all the 'progressives' for the leftwing socially engineered multicultural society! Long live the EUSSR!
Mirckel Will Again Probably Double Down ...
""Ich Vise Alles""
Not too fast folks. According to German media, the truck has Polish number plates and the driver was also Polish and has fled.
Hey Murkul…
If you like your f’ng muslims,
You can keep your f’ng muslims.
At least we have a modicum of hope here, now.
Will FRAU Mukrel Survive Politically this latest Incident ???
<=== NO
<=== YES
Me and mine are ok
This ends with mountains of dead bodies. Mark my words.
Heard German police officer saying: Islamistischer Anschlag.
So they arrested Hassan, and not Pjotr?
I wonder what would happen to that Pak bastard if he pulled that murderous stunt off in Kiev today.
Beaten to death. In Russia, Muslim gangs were attacking Russian women at a bar. Pulled out by Russians and severely beaten. And deservedly so. Africans and Muslims only understand violence. You fight back and they run. Cowards. They primarily prey on white women, the elderly, and white children. Oh, and they defecate in pools. Why? Because they are savages.
From what I've read so far it seems the 'Polish co-driver' was the original driver of the truck and was murdered during the theft of the truck from a downtown construction site.
Rather early start to 12 Days Of Christmas...
Erdo ...on the Second Day Of Christmas can we have 2m. More...
On the Third Day Of Christmas NATO receives walking papers....
This can be fixed.
But not by the greedy, narcissistic bureaucrats in Brussels.
It needs to be organic, nationalistic.
It is worth all the money in the world to send them back, give them a stake in rebuilding the US/NATO bombed out M.E…..and junk the Saudis -- exile their mosques back to their barren desert hell-hole and let them run around the big black square all they want. They can even oil themselves up real good for at least 20 more years.
Europe needs to reclaim its culture before it becomes irretrievable.
Do regular Germans own firearms?
Regular Germans aren't even allowed to own pepper spray.
Does this answer your question?
They are allowed to wear cock-cages though..
That's why Merkele invited ze rapefugees
Someone has to shaft ze Cherman wimmenz
It's curious how Dylann Roof executing 9 black people while sporting white nationalist symbols doesn't similarly lead to the conclusion that Western society has a genuine Angry White Guy problem (i.e.: that a specific ethnic group called "white men" (and since Trump's election white women just the same) is increasingly at the root of serious political, social, and criminal disruptions in Western society), which needs to be resolutely addressed by authorities just the same.
Dylann Roof's racist murder spree/massacre was a right-wing extremist terror attack perpetrated on America's domestic soil, and was carried out in the same spirit and in the same fashion as this incident.
Where was your collective outrage about Dylann Roof?
Already made official policy and called diversity. He's already guilty by being a white male, and hasn't proven his innocence by grovelling in guilt, emasculating himself, etc. According to the chattering classes, he's what you should expect. The fact he's a whack is conspiracy theory.
The support system for his outrage are a bunch of whacks and haters, muttering to themselves in the dark corners. The support system for the Berlin (Nice, Paris, etc.) outrage is a particular school of Islam, and the governments that support it.
"He's already guilty by being a white male"
Revolting. He is guilty by being a far-right mass-murderer who was motivated specifically by racism & white nationalism. And Dylann Roof was not an isolated incident: recall Anders Behring Breivik.
"The support system for the Berlin (Nice, Paris, etc.) outrage is a particular school of Islam, and the governments that support it."
Progressives see similar "support systems" for crimes as those of Roof & Breivik emerging on forums such as these, and in Donald Trump we see the rise of a Western government/administration that exonerates their racism & white nationalism. Remember this well.
Cause this is America, with free and easy access to antidepressants and semiautomatics. Hell of a combination. We've so used to this, companies sell education courses in dealing with active shooter situations. I've taken the course myself, and come out of it no more informed.
When Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people at Virginia Tech, nobody went off about Korean racism. Though it exists,. Only white people can be racist. The motivation is all over the map; High school bullying, video game fantasies brought to life, Black Lives Matter, and so on.
Just like the black supremicist underground is really above ground, while relatively harmless historical toys like the Confederate flag are screamed about, it's all a matter of the MSM footprint.
EML et al… No assessment of any of this crap can be possible without a trusted 3rd party toxicology report.
Most of this is fueled by drugs… fueled by manipulators.
Look at the maniac at the art museum in Ankara… don’t even try to suggest he was not jacked.
We need to kill it at the source.
The 'source' is Mecca/Qaaba
A mini nuke can do wonders
Once the totem is incinerated the cult is dead
"Only white people can be racist."
Whites are the most privileged group in Western society by a large margin. Ergo, ethnic nationalism on their parts is the most problematic, especially when it becomes widespread & normalized as is happening today.
Case in point: demographic changes in society had ensured that bitter, angry white males such as the ones that congregate here on Zero Hedge could not have brought someone like Donald Trump into the White House alone. It were white women, across all age groups, social classes, and educational levels who assisted them. This has not gone unnoticed in progressive circles:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/11/09/white_women_sold_out_the...
http://www.salon.com/2016/11/26/the-colorblind-sisterhood-fantasy-black-...
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/commentisfree/2016/nov/16/why-d...
In between the Dylann Roofs, Anders Breiviks and Trump's election thanks to white women, there's much to be concerned about regarding this resurgent white nationalism in the West. I don't see why it should be treated any differently from so-called "Islamic" terrorism, when the consequences are identical for its victims.
I'm surprised you didn't mention that POS Anders Breivik, EML. But what's your point anyway? That an attack on blacks negates any anger we might have towards this excrement behind the steering wheel?
I'm sure you'll consider this a low blow, but what if your child had been walking in the path of that truck?
Likely a good pretext for German boots on the ground in Syria. Saudi's mercenaries are getting their asses kicked, send in Europeans who don't know the difference between Daesh and the Syrian Arab Army.
Either we wise up and deal with the problems that many muslims in our own societies seem to have with our values, or we keep our eyes closed and our mouths shut in the name of the PC narrative. But by choosing the latter we will hand the keys of government over to political extremists and then we can start the body count. Like I once told you, Haus, I for one do not want to lose my soul, so let's deal with this ourselves, harshly and correctly. For starters, I suggest we bring back the death penalty for ideologically inspired terrorist attacks causing human casulaties, just like some countries reinstated the firing squad in war time.
Also, my thoughts go out to the victims of this hate crime, but words of compassion quickly seem to lose their value after the umpteenth attack, don't they?
For starters, I suggest we bring back the death penalty for being muslim, period.
Exterminate the Brutes.
It's astonishing that you do not see any irony or hypocrisy in this.
None whatsoever. In your case, we'll bring back the death penalty for Bestiality.
Dead bodies?
Are you alluding that the Germans will wake up and heat the ovens again?
I doubt it...then again, I don't live there.
Nine horrifically Merkeled, 50 partially Merkeled, in market attack. Motivations of the tan German are unknown.
Ain't that Herr Murkul?
F all you socialist scum.. I lived in Europe for a number of years... I really liked Europe... I have traveled all over the continent.... I do not want to go anywhere near there now.
"the truck has Polish number plates and the driver was also Polish"
OK.. likely a devout Christian pollack.
Few of you likely know the seafood feast that could be had in Glyphada for less than 300 Drachs back in the day.
You couldn't pay me visit anywhere near there...
You just know this Fucking "Elitist Experiment" will not end pretty.
We may only be in the 2nd Inning of this SHIT Disaster Unfolding???
so what's the deal? israel and the neocons fool idiot americans (me for years) with a false flag big as the ritz and the idiot americans (and the ones in on the plot) start five, six, howevermany wars on muslim nations, kill a million or two of them (makes all the attacks, false, real, false flag, whatever look totally puny in comparison), drive millions more from their homes, and it's surprising and reprehensible that some attack innocent allies of the great satans the united states and israel? give me a break. it is to be expected and we should take it out on the neocons and israel, bush, cheney, rumsfeld, tony fucking blair, ok merkel, obama, clinton and the assholes in nato. and on israel, one more time because it is their fucking fault.
What a great post !
They found a dead body in the cab- probably the pollack got jacked and killed, and a treasure of middle eastern culture drove the truck into the gerries, we will find out soon enough i guess... but hey any ocasion is a good ocasion to bash some polish untermensh right? you nazzi cunt.
OK schmuck....
You won't even understand when the SHTF.
Crawl back under your self-righteous rock.
Y'know... I am a military kind of guy.. creds to prove it.//
But this shit.. Christmas Market... innocents.... just gets me in the wrongest way possible.
And there is no easy way to solve this.. so it is going to have to be the hard way.
Very very easy way to solve it. Make a list starting with Mecca and Medina and every muslim city in the Middle east. Every Terrorist act in the West One City Eats say a 10 megaton Nuke. Rinse and repeat. It would stop pretty quick.
And oh.. to Erick... I have a little Pole in me...
It feels good sometimes.
Qatar.. Riyahd .. we could solve a lot of problems if those spaces were glass roller rinks.
Geez... don't want to piss anybody off in fight club. (heh heh).
Nothing unter or uber, inny or outie about me except I am growing a bit intolerant of gross stupidity in my old age.