Sky News: At least nine people have died after a lorry ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin in a possible terror attack.
Around 50 others were injured, including several critically, and the suspected driver was arrested nearby.
A passenger was among the dead in the crash at Breitscheidplatz, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in central Berlin.
Witnesses said it was not an accident and the lorry had shown no signs of slowing down.
One spoke of the vehicle “going through people” and “pulling everything down” as it tore through tables and wooden stands.
The truck veered into the market during one of the most crowded times, with people gathering in huts that sell food and Christmas goods.
Images from the scene showed the damaged black truck on the pavement with its windscreen smashed and debris scattered nearby.
The lorry had Polish number plates and it is claimed the owner of the truck believes it was hijacked.
German police said there were no indications of other “dangerous situations” in the city but told Berliners to “stay at home”.
A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel tweeted: “We mourn the dead and hope that the many people injured can be helped.”
And German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said there were many signs that it was an attack.
Witness Emma Rushton, who had been just several feet from the crash, told Sky News: “It wasn’t an accident. It was going at 40mph through the middle of the market.
“There was no way it could have come off the road and it showed no signs of slowing down.”
Ms Rushton said: “We saw the articulated vehicle going through people and through the stalls and just pulling everything down.”
Mike Fox, another witness, said the lorry missed him by only about three metres as it drove into the market.
“It was definitely deliberate,” said the tourist from Birmingham.
He said he helped people who appeared to have broken limbs, and that others were trapped under Christmas stands.
Some nearby hotels were put on lockdown.
US tourist Sabrina Glinz, who witnessed the aftermath, said the lorry “went to the beginning of the market where it is busiest and then careered through” stalls.
In July this year, a 19-ton lorry ploughed into a crowd in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people.
