Enlarge image
The horror ride of the small car only ended in a shop window
Photo: Michael Sohn / dpa
A car first drove into a crowd in Berlin-Charlottenburg and then into a shop window some distance away.
A fire department spokesman said one person was killed.
In the afternoon, the fire department also spoke of six people with life-threatening injuries.
Five people were said to be in mortal danger.
There were also three seriously injured and several slightly injured.
The police said more than a dozen were injured.
According to the investigators, it could have been an accident, an intentional act or a medical emergency.
Indicators that would speak for an intentional act would now be compared, among other things, with the evidence and witness statements, said police spokesman Thilo Cablitz at noon.
"But I don't want to speculate," he said, referring to the distance between the two accident sites.
The alleged driver was initially held by two passers-by.
According to police, it is a 29-year-old man.
He will be heard.
According to the police, the man drove a Renault at around 10:26 a.m. on the corner of Ku'damm and Rankestrasse onto the sidewalk of Ku'damm and into a group of people.
Then, according to the information, he drove back to the intersection and almost 200 meters further east on Tauentzienstrasse.
Shortly before the corner of Marburger Strasse, he steered the car off the road onto the sidewalk again, touched another car, crossed Marburger Strasse and ended up in the window of a perfumery shop.
The area was cordoned off extensively.
According to the fire brigade, 60 rescue workers are on site.
The care of the injured is running.
The police are on site with around 130 forces.
With a helicopter, the investigators got an overall picture of the situation on site, as a police spokesman said.
A rescue helicopter was also seen.
At the beginning of the operation, the rescue workers assumed that 30 people were injured.
Berlin's governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) promised support to those affected.
"We will do everything we can to help those affected," Giffey said.
Everything will also be done to clarify what happened.
She also wanted to get an idea of the situation on site in the afternoon.
"Right now it's important that the injured are treated," Giffey said.
Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger (SPD), was also shocked by the incident: "I'm in the situation center and keep myself informed.
My thoughts and my deepest sympathy are with all those affected!" The Senate administration quoted Spranger on Twitter: "I am shocked by the incident in Charlottenburg."
In December 2016, an Islamist assassin drove a trailer truck into a Christmas market near the Memorial Church.
At that time 13 people died and more than 70 were injured.
When asked about this, Giffey said: "It's a situation where you think: for God's sake, not again!
Whether that was a coincidence, the location, whether it was a deliberately chosen location, we don't know yet.«
Editor's note: A previous version reported 12 victims of the 2016 attack. A first responder succumbed to his injuries almost five years after the crime. We have changed the position.
ptz/wlf/dpa/AFP
