At Least 1 Dead, Dozens Injured After Car Drives into Crowd of Shoppers in Berlin

Alexandra Schonfeld
·2 min read
At Least 1 Dead, Dozens Injured After Car Drives into Crowd of Shoppers in Berlin

At least 1 person has been killed and dozens more injured after a car drove into a crowd of shoppers in Berlin, Germany, according to authorities.

A 29-year-old man with dual German and Armenian citizenship, thought to be the driver, has been arrested and is currently being questioned, Berlin police told the BBC, Wednesday.

It is currently unclear if the incident on one of Berlin's busiest shopping streets was an accident or intentional.

"There are seriously injured people among the more than a dozen injured," police spokesperson Thilo Cablitz told reporters at the scene, reported the BBC.

"Part of the reconstruction of the event, of course, is to look at the extent to which this was an intentional act or a traffic accident that may have occurred because of an exceptional medical situation," Cablitz added, according to The New York Times.

The car that was droven into a group of people killing one person and injuring eight injured is pictured in central Berlin,
The car that was droven into a group of people killing one person and injuring eight injured is pictured in central Berlin,

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images A car crashed into storefront in Berlin

CNN reported that the tragic incident occurred near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church around 10:30 a.m. local time when a silver Renault Clio with Berlin license plates mounted the sidewalk and crashed through a display window in a cosmetics shop.

Vehicle drives in Berlin into a group of people: One dead, several injured at Breitscheidplatz, Germany
Vehicle drives in Berlin into a group of people: One dead, several injured at Breitscheidplatz, Germany

Action Press/Shutterstock Vehicle drives into a group of people in Berlin.

A Berlin Police Twitter account later stated that the crash happened in the popular Tauentzienstraße shopping area of the German capital. It added that the driver was initially restrained by "passers-by" before being handed over to emergency services.

In response to the tragic events, Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said that she was "deeply affected by this incident," via a Twitter statement. "We know that there is one dead and several seriously injured. The police are working flat out to clarify the matter," she continued.

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"I will get an idea of ​​the situation on-site during the course of the day. I would like to thank the more than 130 emergency services for their quick response and care for those affected."

Actor John Barrowman was also on the scene at the time of the incident and shared his experience on Twitter through a series of videos.

Police and emergency services secure the area after an incident. A car drove into a group of people near the Memorial Church in Berlin
Police and emergency services secure the area after an incident. A car drove into a group of people near the Memorial Church in Berlin

Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

"The police presence is unbelievable," he said on video while explaining his account of the events.

"I heard the bang and the crash when I was, we were, in a store and then we came out and we just saw the carnage," he continued.

The actor added that there were "multiple fatalities" despite the police's report that so far just one person has died.

A representative for Berlin Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.