‘Islamist’ Iraqi screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ causes multiple crashes on Berlin motorway while driving car with fake bomb on the roof before he is overpowered by police
- Six people hurt, three seriously, after car crashed into motorbike riders in Berlin
- Iraqi man in his 30s allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and claimed to have a bomb
- He was arrested by armed police, who found the bomb was actually a tool box
- Prosecutors have said the man appears to have an ‘Islamist motivation’
Six people have been injured, three of them severely, after a suspected terror attack on a motorway in Berlin overnight.
A 30-year-old Iraqi man driving a black Opel Astra is thought to have deliberately crashed into several motorbikes and scooters while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
He then got out of the car and placed a box on the roof, claiming it was a bomb and that he would detonate it if anyone approached, investigators told German media.
Six people have been injured, three of them seriously, after a car crashed into multiple motorbike and scooter riders around Berlin on Tuesday evening (scene of final crash)
The driver, a 30-year-old Iraqi man, allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he ploughed into the other motorists, before claiming to have a bomb on the roof of his car
Police are now thought to be investigating the crashes as ‘politically motivated’, with a press conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon
Armed police rushed to the scene and eventually overpowered the man and opened the box, which was found to contain tools, Bild reported.
The man has since been arrested and police are working on the assumption that the accidents were caused deliberately.
The man appears to have had an ‘Islamist motivation according to our current knowledge’, prosecutors said.
Police have yet to officially confirm the reports, but a preliminary report is due to be completed on Wednesday afternoon.
All of the crashes happened in the south west of the city, where motorways were still closed on Wednesday morning.
One motorcyclist was run over at Detmolder Strasse, at a junction with the A100 motorway, according to Bild.
At least three crash scenes have been identified along a three-mile stretch of motorway located in the south west of Berlin
Large sections of motorway remained closed on Wednesday morning as police continued to investigate the crash sites – including with drones (pictured)
300 people were left stranded in their cars overnight after police closed the highways, and had to be supported by the Red Cross
A scooter driver was then hit at Innsbrucker Platz, around a mile along the same motorway, and had to be revived by paramedics.
Two more motorbike riders were then struck at Alboinstrasse, another a mile along the same motorway.
The car used in the attacks was then pictured with a motorbike pinned under the front bumper at Alboinstrasse.
The incident led to long traffic jams Tuesday evening.
Some 300 people were stuck on the highway for hours and were getting support from the German Red Cross, the Berlin fire department tweeted Tuesday night.