A truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday evening, leaving at least 12 dead and 48 injured as it tore through tables and wooden stands. 

Police said a suspect believed to be the driver was arrested nearby, and that a passenger was dead. German media Die Welt reported that the suspected driver at the time of the incident was a refugee from Pakistan, who arrived in the country on February 16 this year.

The vehicle crashed into the market outside the capital’s popular Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. AP Television footage showed a large Scania truck with its windshield smashed on the sidewalk by the market, with a swarm of ambulances nearby. A large Christmas tree with a gold star on top was toppled over nearby in the street, and tree branches were left crushed under the truck’s tires.

Police said they were still investigating whether the crash was deliberate, but it comes less than a month after a US State Department called for caution in markets and other public places, saying extremist groups including ISIL and al-Qaeda were focusing “on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.”

ISIL and al-Qaeda have both called on followers to use trucks in particular to attack public places. On July 14, a truck plowed into a Bastille Day crowd in the southern French city of Nice, killing 86 people. ISIL claimed responsibility for that attack, which was carried out by a Tunisian living in France.

Mike Fox, a tourist from Birmingham, England, told The Associated Press at the scene in Berlin that the large truck missed him by about three meters as it drove into the market, tearing through tables and wooden stands.

“It was definitely deliberate,” Fox said, adding that he helped people who appeared to have broken limbs, and that others were trapped under Christmas stands.

Federal prosecutors, who handle terrorism cases, have taken over the investigation, according to German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, who said in a tweet “we are mourning with the relatives” of the victims. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said "I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet at the moment, although a lot speaks for it. There is a psychological effect in the whole country of the choice of words here, and we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation." A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she was in contact with de Maiziere and the mayor of Berlin. 

Dozens of ambulances lined the streets waiting to evacuate people, and heavily armed police patrolled the area. Police on Twitter urged people to stay away from the area, saying they need to keep the streets clear to give access to rescue vehicles.

(Adapted from a story by the Associated Press)