Car ploughs into crowds in Berlin, leaving people dead and injured
Terror on the streets of Berlin: Car mounts the pavement and ploughs into crowd beside church killing at least one person and injuring 30
At least one person killed after car drove into crowds of shoppers in Berlin 30 more injured after silver Renault mounted pavement opposite a church Police say driver arrested, but it is not clear whether crash was deliberate Scene is close to Berlin Christmas market attack in 2016 that killed 11 people
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At least one person has been killed and up to 30 have been injured after a car ploughed into crowds near a church in Berlin this morning.
A silver Renault Twingo drove into people on Rankestrasse, a street packed with shops and cafes in western Berlin that is overlooked by Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, around 10.30am local time Wednesday.
Witnesses said the car repeatedly mounted the pavement before crashing through the front of a perfume shop and that the driver attempted to flee, but was held by onlookers until police arrived.
Officers say the driver – a man – has been arrested, but did not say what for. They also refused to say whether the crash was deliberate or an accident.
Actor John Barrowman, who was in a nearby shop as the crash happened, described the scene as ‘very bad’ and said he saw a dead body lying in the road.
Barrowman said he heard a loud bang while shopping and came out to find ‘carnage’ with police, medics and fire crews ‘everywhere’.
‘The car came down onto the pavement,’ he said. ‘Then has come onto the road over there, has hit somebody then has gone down the road and come back onto the pavement… and gone through a bunch of people and then right into a store front window.’
At least one person is dead after a car ploughed into crowds of people on a street packed with shops and cafes in western Berlin around 10.30am Wednesday
Dozens of people were hurt in the crash, some of them seriously, as local media said the car repeatedly mounted the pavement and hit people before the driver tried to flee
Dozens of firefighters, police and medics rushed to the scene – which is just a short distance from where 13 were killed in the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack
Rescue workers help an injured person after a car crashed into a crowd of people in central Berlin, Germany
The silver Renault Twingo is said to have mounted the pavement several times and rammed into people, before crashing through the front of a perfume shop
Actor John Barrowman said he was inside a nearby shop when he heard a ‘bang’ and ran out to find ‘carnage’ including a dead body lying in the middle of the road
Fire crews help treat two young women who were wounded after a car mounted the pavement and drove into people in western Berlin on Wednesday morning
Fire crews strap an injured person to a stretcher after they were wounded by a car which mounted the pavement and ploughed into shoppers in Berlin on Wednesday
Police and fire crews rush to help people injured by a car in Berlin, as the vehicle sits embedded in the front of a perfume shop window. The driver has been arrested
The crash happened around 10.30am local time – 9.30am GMT – on Rankestrausse, a street filled with shops and cafes that is overlooked by Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Police said: ‘A man is believed to have driven into a group of people. It is not yet known whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.’
The crash took place near the main shopping district’s Breitscheidplatz, the scene of Berlin’s 2016 Christmas market attack in which 13 people were killed.
The country has seen several such attacks since the deadly 2016 assault, with most carried out by people who were found to have psychological issues.
In December 2020, a German man ploughed his car through a pedestrian shopping street in the southwestern city of Trier, killing four adults and a baby.
Earlier the same year, a German man rammed his car through a carnival procession in the central town of Volkmarsen, injuring dozens of bystanders, including children. He was sentenced to life in jail last year.
In January 2019, another German national injured eight people when he drove into crowds on New Year’s Eve in the western cities of Bottrop and Essen. He was later taken into psychiatric care.
In April 2018, a German man crashed his van into people seated outside a restaurant in the city of Muenster, killing five before shooting himself dead. Investigators later said he had mental health problems.
During the football World Cup in Germany in 2006, a German man rammed his car into crowds gathered to watch a match at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, injuring some 20 people. The driver was later committed to a psychiatric hospital.
