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Berlin lorry 'terror' attack:''There was blood and bodies everywhere' say eyewitnesses

At least 12 people have been killed and 48 injured 

Caroline Mortimer
Tuesday 20 December 2016 03:17 EST
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Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least 12 people have been killed
Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least 12 people have been killed (REUTERS)

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Eyewitnesses have described the “blood and bodies everywhere” after a lorry drove through the crowd at a packed Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least 12 people.

Berlin police have said that investigators assume the driver of a truck did so intentionally in a suspected terrorist attack.

The truck crashed into people gathered around wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, which was left as a ruin after World War Two, in the heart of former West Berlin on Monday evening.

Australian student Trisha O’Neill was sitting metres from where the truck ploughed into the crowd at the Breitscheidplatz market.

She told ABC: "All of a sudden there was a big boom and the people in front me jumped on top of me.

"All the lights went out and everything was destroyed.

"I could hear screaming and then we all froze. Then suddenly people started to move and lift all the wreckage off people, trying to help whoever was there.

"There was blood and bodies everywhere."

She said she and her friends had frozen because they were unsure what to do. They were afraid to see dead bobies lying on the ground but eventually walk away to streets nearby when the police and ambulance arrived.

Briton Emma Rushton, who was in the market, saw the lorry rush past her at speed and said it could not have been an accident.

She told Sky News she only missed being caught in the chaos because she had climbed up some steps to take a seat.

Ms Rushton said: "The stall that we bought our mulled wine from was completely crushed. People were tearing off wooden panels to get out."

She added: "It was not an accident. It was going 40mph, it was in the middle of the market. There was no way that it could have come off the road and it showed no signs of slowing down.

"Our investigators assume that the truck was deliberately steered into the crowd at the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz," police said on Twitter.

"All police measures related to the suspected terrorist attack at Breitscheidplatz are progressing at full steam and with the necessary diligence," police said

German radio station Bayern 1 reported that the suspect was a Pakistani national who had entered the country on New Year's Eve in 2015.

German police said the suspect had been arrested last night and was currently in custody.

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