Summary

  • So-called Islamic State (IS) claims responsibility for Monday's truck attack at a Berlin market, which killed 12 people and injured 49

  • The registered driver of the Polish lorry is reported to have been found dead with gunshot wounds

  • German police have released a Pakistani suspect, saying there is no evidence against him

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller attend a vigil at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

  • Mr Mueller says "the entire free world mourns the victims of this cowardly and inhumane attack on our peaceful way of living"

  1. 'Eerie scene' as Christmas lights still twinklepublished at 09:04 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill says the Christmas lights in Breitscheidplatz are still twinkling, as emergency services work in the area.

    Media caption,

    Berlin attack: 'Eerie scene' as Christmas lights still twinkle

  2. 'Blind violence' links Berlin with Nicepublished at 08:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    The mayor of Nice, Philippe Pradal, has tweeted his condolences to the city of Berlin. Some 86 people died in July when a lorry was driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. Mr Pradal said the Berlin incident shared the same "blind violence" as the attack in Nice.

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  3. 'Germany is in shock'published at 08:53 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Julian Reichelt is editor in chief of one of Germany's biggest news sites, Bild Online.

    He told the BBC's Newsday programme that the country was in shock:

    Media caption,

    Christmas markets are a huge German tradition

  4. Tempelhof hangar searchedpublished at 08:44 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    There are reports German special forces have begun searching a hangar at Berlin's Tempelhof airport. 

    The airport, which was build by the Nazis in the 1930s, has recently become home to nearly 2,000 migrants.

    There are more details about its use here.

    Tempelhof airportImage source, AFP
    Tempelhof airportImage source, AFP
  5. Polish lorry driver 'died of stab wounds'published at 08:37 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    There are differing reports about the Polish lorry driver, who police have confirmed was found dead in the vehicle. 

    Polish TVN24 says the driver was 37 years old and died of stab wounds.  

    His cousin, Ariel Zurawski, told TVN24 the vehicle was hijacked as it travelled from Italy to Berlin carrying a consignment of steel girders. He said his cousin had to park the lorry in Berlin until Tuesday because of a delay in finishing the delivery.

    However, police say they believe the lorry had been stolen from a construction site in Poland.

  6. Special forces search airport hangarpublished at 08:14 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    German N24 TV, external is reporting that special forces have searched a hangar at Berlin's Tempelhof airport. It says the special forces have their "first hot lead" following the incident.  

  7. Daylight reveals devastationpublished at 08:13 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Officers are continuing to work in the Breitscheidplatz area, where it is daylight now. Photographs of the front of the lorry reveal the devastation it caused, with parts of market stalls and a Christmas tree clearly visible through its smashed window.

    LorryImage source, AP
    LorryImage source, AP
  8. Suspect named by German paperpublished at 08:03 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Die Welt, external, the German national daily newspaper, says the suspect is believed to be a 23 year old who it has named as "Naved B", from Pakistan. The paper says he was born on 1 January, 1993.

    The newspaper is also reporting that a German special forces unit has stormed a hangar at Berlin's Tempelhof airport, where it says the suspect had been living in a refugee shelter.

  9. German security 'has improved'published at 07:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Lorry being towed awayImage source, AP

    Roderich Kiesewetter, an MP from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling party, says the government has taken measures to lower the risk of terrorism in Germany. 

    It comes as the anti-immigration AfD party blamed Mrs Merkel for the attack, linking the incident to her decision to allow more than one million migrants into Germany last year.

    Mr Kiesewetter said: "We have invested a lot in the last 12, 15 months into our domestic security. We have improved the co-operation among the services. We have improved as well our law, our law system. However, you never can exclude any attacks, especially of those who really try to attack German society on purpose."

  10. Eerie atmosphere at Berlin marketpublished at 07:37 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Jenny Hill, BBC Berlin correspondent, says the atmosphere in the area around the Berlin market is eerie this morning. There is a sense of utter horror, particularly as the incident has come so close to Christmas. Our correspondent says this has now been compounded by the suggestion the attack may have been deliberately planned.

  11. Site of the attackpublished at 07:14 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    The Christmas market targeted was at Breitscheidplatz, close to the Kurfuerstendamm, the main shopping street in the heart of western Berlin.

    Map showing scene of attack

    It's not far from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was left in ruins after World War Two.   

    Security and rescue workers tend to the area after a lorry truck was ploughed through a Christmas market on 19 December 2016 in Berlin, Germany.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church pictured in background

  12. Suspect fled to nearby parkpublished at 07:04 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    The suspect fled the scene of the attack and was picked up some 2km (1 mile) away near Berlin's Victory Column monument.

    Police managed to get hold of him after a witness pursued the suspect and alerted them to his presence.

    They speculated the driver may have wanted to "find shelter in the darkness of the park".

  13. Polish links to lorrypublished at 06:41 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Police search the surroundings of a truck which run into a crowded Christmas market the evening before and killed several people in Berlin, Germany, on 20 December, 2017.Image source, AP

    The lorry is due to be removed for forensic tests, police say

    They are investigating leads that the vehicle was stolen from a Polish national who was found dead inside and possibly subject to a hijacking.

    The owner of the lorry, who is also Polish, confirmed the driver was missing and had been unreachable since 15:00 GMT on Monday.

    Rescuers and police investigators stand around a victim of a truck that ploughed through a crowd of a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue in the west of Berlin, Germany, 20 December 2016Image source, Reuter
  14. Welcome back to our live coveragepublished at 06:22 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2016

    Welcome back to our live coverage of Monday's lorry attack at a central Christmas market in Berlin

    Twelve people were killed when a lorry was steered deliberately into the crowd.

    Police are calling it a suspected terror attack with German reports quoting a security source as saying an Afghan or Pakistani asylum seeker is being questioned.

  15. End of live page coveragepublished at 23:54 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    This brings our live coverage of the lorry crash at the market in Berlin to an end. Our news story will continue to be updated with the latest information.

  16. Driver's nationality 'still not certain'published at 23:50 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    The nationality of the suspected truck driver who crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin is still not certain, a police spokesman quoted by Reuters says. The suspect, who fled the scene of the killings and was later arrested, is being interrogated by officers, the news agency quoted police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf as saying. 

  17. 'Driver came to Germany in February as refugee from Pakistan'published at 23:48 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    The man suspected of driving the truck which killed nine people came from Pakistan to Germany on 16 February 2016 as a refugee, Welt (in German) reports sources as saying, external. But there is no independent confirmation of this claim.  

  18. Trump: It's only going to get worsepublished at 23:41 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    More from Donald Trump on the Berlin market crash:

  19. Clearing up the debrispublished at 23:38 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    Security operation at the Berlin marketImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    A heavy security operation at the scene of the crash was still under way on Monday night

  20. German interior minister: Increasing signs it was an attackpublished at 23:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2016

    German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says there are now many signs that the crash of a lorry into the Christmas market was an attack. "I don't want to use the word 'attack' yet, although there are many things pointing to one," he tells public television.