German police said Tuesday they were treating as “a probable terrorist attack” the killing of 12 people when a lorry ploughed through a packed Berlin Christmas market.

Dozens more were wounded Monday when the truck tore through the crowd, smashing through wooden stalls and crushing victims, in scenes reminiscent of July’s deadly attack in the French Riviera city of Nice.

Police detained the man believed to have deliberately crashed the heavy vehicle loaded with steel beams into the festive market in area popular with tourists near the capital’s iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

The man behind the wheel was an asylum seeker believed to be from Afghanistan or Pakistan who arrived in Germany in February, according to security sources cited by DPA news agency.

A Polish man, thought to have been the truck’s registered driver, was found dead on the passenger seat, and police said he had not steered the vehicle.

Twelve people were killed and 48 others injured as the lorry tore through the market for as far as 80 meters (yards) in the incident which came less than a week before Christmas.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet, although there are many things pointing to one,” said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere hours later.

Berlin police early Tuesday said they presumed the lorry was “intentionally steered” into the crowd and called the bloody carnage a “probable terrorist attack”.

Source: AFP