One person was killed and several injured after a car mounted the pavement and smashed into a shop window in Berlin on Wednesday morning.
A man is believed to have driven his car into people on a crowded shopping street, police said, but it was unclear whether he had done so deliberately or had suffered a medical emergency. He was arrested at the scene.
Photos showed the silver Renault lodged in the window of a high-end perfume shop. Police said three people had life-threatening injuries and six were seriously hurt, and one person was confirmed dead.
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said the car first hit a group of people on a street corner, before veering off the road a short distance later and ending up in the shop window. He said investigators were trying to reconstruct what happened.
The driver, a 29-year-old German-Armenian living in Berlin, was initially restrained by passers-by before being arrested by police, said Mr Cablitz. The silver Clio had a Berlin number plate.
The crash took place close to the site of a 2016 terrorist attack, Germany's worst in modern times, when a lorry drove into Christmas shoppers and killed 12. The attacker Anis Amri was later shot dead in Italy.
Four people were killed in a 2019 incident in Berlin when a driver suffered a seizure and drove his sports vehicle on to the pavement.
About 130 emergency workers were at the scene on Wednesday in one of Berlin's main shopping districts. A police helicopter landed in the road while rescuers treated the victims.
A witness to the aftermath was actor John Barrowman, who was unhurt but shaken after hearing “the bang and the crash … we came out and we just saw the carnage”.
An emotional Mr Barrowman told Sky News: “These people were just having breakfast at a cafe, it's just awful.”
He said he saw a body lying in the middle of the street, part of what was once the glitzy commercial hub of West Berlin and close to one of the city's best-known landmarks, the war-ravaged Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey visited the scene and said she was "deeply shocked... the police are working at full speed to clear up what happened".
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
