At least twelve people died on Monday evening, when a truck was driven into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, in the heart of Berlin’s City West. Investigators and politicians are proceeding on the assumption that the incident was a terrorist attack. In the late afternoon, it was still unclear if the attack had an Islamist background. In the evening, the so-called Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility.
The events surrounding the attack
A young man arrested immediately following the attack on the Berlin Christmas market was apparently not responsible for the act of terror, and was released on Tuesday evening. Since Wednesday law enforcement authorities across Europe had been hunting for the new suspect: The manhunt on the Tunisian Anis Amri had begun on Wednesday evening. Friday morning he is shot during a shootout with the police in Milan. A reconstruction of events.
- 1 Morning Monday, 19 December 2016 Polish semi-trailer parks in Moabit
- 2 20.02 Uhr Monday, 19 December 2016 Truck crashes into Christmas market
- 3 20.56 Uhr Monday, 19 December 2016 First suspect arrested at Berlin Victory Column
- 4 3 bis 8 Uhr Tuesday, 20 December 2016 Police search refugee shelter at Tempelhof
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Afternoon19 December 2016Polish semi-trailer parks in Moabit
A Scania semi-trailer belonging to a Polish trucking company is parked in Berlin – in front of the ThyssenKrupp office, located in the Friedrich-Krause-Ufer street in the district of Moabit. According to the trucking company, the vehicle was driven from Italy and was carrying steel to be delivered on Tuesday in Berlin.
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3:45 p.m.19 December 2016Truck is started at the parking lot
GPS data show that someone moved the vehicle on Monday afternoon. According to the Polish trucking company’s owner, Ariel Zurawski, “It looked as if someone was practising driving the truck.”
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7:34 p.m.19 December 2016Truck drives off
After a number of attempts to start the truck, the vehicle starts moving at 7:36 p.m. This was what the GPS data shows, reports a leading trucking company worker to the Polish internet portal money.pl on the day after the attack.
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8:02 p.m.19 December 2016Truck crashes into Christmas market
The first reports of the attack are received by the police: a truck has crashed into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, at Breitscheidplatz in the heart of City West. Nine people are killed immediately, and a further three die in hospital as a result of their severe injuries. Among these twelve is the original driver of the truck from Poland, who was found lifeless in the passenger seat.
Der Ablauf des Anschlags am Berliner Breitscheidplatz
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8:56 p.m.19 December 2016First suspect arrested
The Berlin police arrest a suspect at the Berlin Victory Column. According to police, a witness saw the man fleeing Breitscheidplatz, and kept the emergency response centre continuously informed of the suspect’s position. According to his identity documents, the arrested man is 23, and comes from Pakistan. He entered Germany in a group of around 15 refugees on 31 December 2015.
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3 a.m. to 8 a.m20 December 2016Police operation in refugee shelter
The police search Berlin’s largest refugee shelter, located at the former Tempelhof airport. Four young men are questioned, but no arrests are made. Some 250 police take part in the operation, including a Special Deployment Commando unit. The operation ends at 8 a.m. The arrested man is thought to have stayed in the shelter. According to Berlin’s Chief of Police, Klaus Kandt, a mobile telephone is also seized there.
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9:30 a.m.20 December 2016Truck is towed
The tractor unit of the semi-trailer, with its shattered windscreen, is towed, with further examination planned. Bloodied clothing is found in the driver’s cabin. No bloodied clothing is found with the man arrested at some distance to the crime scene.
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1:07 p.m.20 December 2016First doubts regarding the arrested man
Die Welt newspaper tweets “BREAKING: Berliner Polizei – “Wir haben den falschen Mann”” (BREAKING: Berlin Police – “We have the wrong man”). Although not confirming that the wrong man was arrested, Berlin’s Chief of Police, Klaus Kandt, concedes that “It is actually uncertain that he was the driver”. The German security agencies have no record of the arrested man as an Islamist. Kandt adds that it is possible that a dangerous criminal may still be at large in the Berlin area.
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2:40 p.m.20 December 2016Chief Federal Prosecutor indicates terrorism
Chief Federal Prosecutor Peter Frank states that he is working on the assumption that the incident was an act of terror. On his orders, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt - BKA) takes over the investigation. The motive for the attack is unclear – as is whether the attack had an Islamist background. “We have no video claiming responsibility”, stressed Frank. It is also unclear whether the perpetrator is still on the run, whether they are part of a larger group, or whether they are being externally directed.
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6:51 p.m.20 December 2016Arrested suspect releasedFollowing the attack on the Berlin Christmas market, the first arrested suspect is released. The German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe announces that no arrest warrant was issued.
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Around 8 p.m.20 December 2016Islamic State (IS) claims responsibilityThe terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) claims responsibility for the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin. In the evening, the Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency announces on the Internet that an IS fighter is responsible for the attack.
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Around 11 a.m21 December 2016Search for a new suspectFollowing the attack at Breitscheidplatz, the police look for a new suspect. According to the Berliner Morgenpost’s information, this is a 24 year-old Tunisian, who entered Germany last year as an asylum seeker and whose current status is “temporary suspension of deportation”. The man is known to police as one of around 140 so-called “dangerous persons” in Berlin. The man came to the attention of the police due to a recent intensive search of the crime scene turning up an official document belonging to the suspect.
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Around 5:30 p.m21 December 2016Wanted notice issuedThe German federal prosecutor’s office issued a wanted notice for the Tunisian suspect in connection with the deadly truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin. The notic identified the suspect as Anis Amri, 24. He is 1.78 meters tall and weighs about 75 kilograms. “If you see this person that we are seeking, inform the police. Please do not put yourself in danger because this person could be violent and armed!” the notice said. Police have offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros for information about his whereabouts.
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Around 3:00 a.m23 December 2016Suspect killed in Milan shootoutThe Tunisian chief suspect in the deadly attack on the Berlin Christmas market, Anis Amri, is fatally shot. He was was killed by police in a shootout, the Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti confirms. The 24 year old had opened fire during a routine identification check close to Sesto San Giovanni station. The police immediately shot back. One police officer with a shot to his shoulder is still fighting for his life, Minniti explains. According to him, the finger prints from the crime scene leave no doubt that Anis Amri is the person who was killed. Police explain that the chief suspect in the Berlin attack had arrived in Italy with a train from France. Police investigations into the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin will continue after Amri’s death. Berlin’s Senator of the Interior. Andreas Geisel, also explains that investigations should clarify whether or not Amri hat accomplices.