Truck Crashes into Berlin Christmas Market

Truck Crashes into Berlin Christmas Market

  • Dec 20, 2016

At least 12 people died and 45 more were injured on Monday, December 19, when a truck, similar to a semi or 18-wheeler, plowed through a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany.

Around 8 p.m. local time, the truck jumped the sidewalk near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The vehicle traveled 50-80 meters before stopping, taking down festive booths, overturning tables and smashing into crowds enjoying the massively popular tourist attraction.

Police believe there were two people in the truck’s cab at the time of the incident. One passenger was found dead inside the truck while the other jumped out of the truck. A suspect was arrested very near to the scene.

Tuesday morning, Police tweeted that they were unsure the person they detained was in fact the driver of the truck. They are still searching for the suspect.

The license plates on the truck belonged to a Polish truck company. When police and reporters called on the company for more information, they told them the truck was headed to Berlin from Poland on business and was being driven by the cousin of the company’s owner. The owner did not believe that his cousin would carry out an attack like this, and told police that he had lost contact with the driver around 4 p.m. that afternoon. There are suspicions that the truck had been hijacked.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Berlin police say they suspect the incident was a terrorist attack. In a statement, the police added that they were working swiftly and with “necessary care” in the investigation.

The incident comes just months after the vehicle attack on Nice, France during Bastille Day celebrations. More than 80 people were killed and dozens more injured when a truck evaded barriers and drove through the crowds.

Just recently, an Islamic publication wrote to encourage readers to plot attacks using vehicles to create mass casualties. German Christmas Markets around the country were placing barriers and extra security guards around the perimeter of the festivities to protect against something just like this.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.