BERLIN — 2016 · Major Tragedy
Breitscheidplatz Christmas Market Attack
On the evening of 19 December 2016, a hijacked lorry was driven into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz next to Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The attacker had already killed the truck's Polish driver; 11 people at the market died before the vehicle's automatic braking system brought it to a halt, and dozens were injured. In 2021 a seriously injured first responder also died, bringing the death toll to 13. The perpetrator of the attack, claimed by ISIS, was shot dead by police near Milan on 23 December. Later inquiries revealed that security services had dropped surveillance of the attacker despite knowing he was dangerous, and that some records had been altered afterwards.
- Date
- 2016
- Place
- Charlottenburg, Germany, Berlin, DE
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 52.5049, 13.3360 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 19 December 2016A lorry was driven into the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market; 12 people died.
- 23 December 2016The perpetrator was shot dead by police near Milan.
- 2017Security service failures and file manipulation were investigated.
- 2021A first responder seriously injured in the attack died; the toll rose to 13.
Sources
- BBC News — Berlin lorry attack bbc.com ↗
- DW — Automatic brakes stopped Berlin truck dw.com ↗
- Wikipedia — 2016 Berlin truck attack en.wikipedia.org ↗
- BBC News
- DW
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.