Berlin Attack: Polish Truck Driver Killed Before Rampage

Local Editor

A polish individual whose truck was recently commandeered by a terrorist to attack a Christmas market in the German capital of Berlin had been shot and killed hours before the attack, a post-mortem examination reportedly found.

Lukasz Urban, whose truck was rammed into a Christmas market killing a dozen people on December 19, had been found dead in the passenger seat after the attack, which also injured almost 50 people.

Authorities had hailed him as a hero as he appeared to have "quite probably" tried to stop the attack by seizing control of the steering wheel before being shot in the head.

But the results of a post-mortem examination indicated that Urban had been shot in the head up to three and a half hours before the attack took place, German newspaper Bild reported. Urban also had stabbing wounds on his body.

Urban had been waiting to unload the steel in his truck at a warehouse on the afternoon of the day of attack when his vehicle was hijacked supposedly by 24-year-old Anis Amri.

Amri, the suspected attacker in the Berlin rampage, went on the run after the deadly attack but was spotted and gunned down in a shootout with police in Italy on Friday.

Meanwhile, Italian police had handed out a still image showing Amri arriving at Milan's central train station just hours before being killed in the exchange of fire with police.

The Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Berlin attack, which is said to have been Germany's worst terror attack in 35 years.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team