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Berlin Christmas market: 9 dead, at least 50 injured in truck crash

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The crash is being investigated as an act of terrorism, according to a German intelligence official familiar with the matter.

The suspected driver in the Christmas market crash has been apprehended in an ongoing operation, according to a Berlin police spokesperson. 

A truck ran into a Christmas market Monday evening in a major public square in Berlin, killing nine people and injuring at least 50 others, police said.

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In a scene reminiscent of a July attack on Nice, France at a Bastille Day gathering, a truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin Monday evening just six days before the holiday, leaving at least nine people dead. 

Berlin's police department confirmed that nine people have died, and many more were wounded in Monday's incident.  Berlin Police said it is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. 

Law enforcement officials said the suspect in Monday's incident was arrested. A passenger in the truck was among the dead, Berlin's police department said. 

A video by Berliner Morgenpost shows the aftermath of police and medics arriving at the scene. The video shows that a Lorry had plowed through the market, damaging a number of the displays there.

The incident happened in Breitscheidplatz in western Berlin.

Rushton, who was in the market when the truck came through, told CNN that the truck didn't slow down.

"We saw at least 10 people" injured and lying on the ground, she said.

 
 
 

Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief at Bild, a German tabloid newspaper, said the market would be busy every night of the week leading up to Christmas.

The market is difficult to access by accident.

"It looks like something that was adapted by Nice," Reichelt said, referring to the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France, that left at least 80 people dead and more than 400 injured.