Police evacuate German Christmas market after security scare
Police in Berlin evacuated on Saturday night the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, the target of a deadly terror attack three years ago.
The city’s police tweeted at around 8:30pm on Saturday that they were investigating a “possibly suspicious object”.
Aktuell sind unsere Kolleg. am Weihnachtsmarkt #Breitscheidplatz im Einsatz und räumen diesen, um Hinweisen auf einen möglicherweise verdächtigen Gegenstand nachzugehen.
^tsm
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) December 21, 2019
Following a two-hour long investigation, the alarm was lifted. No suspicious objects were found, German media including Bild and Der Tagesspiegel reported.
Two men who “left the square suspiciously quickly” have been arrested following Saturday’s events, police said in a briefing at the scene according to Der Tagesspiegel.
Unsere Kolleg. hatten am Abend zwei Personen, die sich verdächtig am #Breitscheidplatz verhielten, festgestellt und daraufhin überprüft.
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) December 21, 2019
No further information was initially released or confirmed about the pair.
Large numbers of armed police were present and the scene was also being investigated by police dogs, according to Berliner Zeitung.
The Christmas market is located close to the Gedächtniskirche church, one of the most recognizable buildings in the German capital.
12 people lost their lives and several others wounded in a terror attack on the Breitscheidplatz market in 2016, when Tunisian Anis Amri drove a lorry into the Christmas market.
Amri was later shot and killed by police in Italy while on the run.
Visitors to the Christmas market left the area in a calm and orderly manner after the alert was raised on Saturday, Berlin’s police wrote on Twitter.
Trains at Zoologischer Garten station were temporarily delayed during the police operation.
READ ALSO: Berlin remembers victims of Christmas market terror attack three years on
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The city’s police tweeted at around 8:30pm on Saturday that they were investigating a “possibly suspicious object”.
Aktuell sind unsere Kolleg. am Weihnachtsmarkt #Breitscheidplatz im Einsatz und räumen diesen, um Hinweisen auf einen möglicherweise verdächtigen Gegenstand nachzugehen.
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) December 21, 2019
^tsm
Following a two-hour long investigation, the alarm was lifted. No suspicious objects were found, German media including Bild and Der Tagesspiegel reported.
Two men who “left the square suspiciously quickly” have been arrested following Saturday’s events, police said in a briefing at the scene according to Der Tagesspiegel.
Unsere Kolleg. hatten am Abend zwei Personen, die sich verdächtig am #Breitscheidplatz verhielten, festgestellt und daraufhin überprüft.
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) December 21, 2019
No further information was initially released or confirmed about the pair.
Large numbers of armed police were present and the scene was also being investigated by police dogs, according to Berliner Zeitung.
The Christmas market is located close to the Gedächtniskirche church, one of the most recognizable buildings in the German capital.
12 people lost their lives and several others wounded in a terror attack on the Breitscheidplatz market in 2016, when Tunisian Anis Amri drove a lorry into the Christmas market.
Amri was later shot and killed by police in Italy while on the run.
Visitors to the Christmas market left the area in a calm and orderly manner after the alert was raised on Saturday, Berlin’s police wrote on Twitter.
Trains at Zoologischer Garten station were temporarily delayed during the police operation.
READ ALSO: Berlin remembers victims of Christmas market terror attack three years on
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