Berlin accident Hardenbergplatz: SUV drivers race in a group of people – no driver’s license, car stolen?

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• A driver got off the road near the Zoologischer Garten station and drove into a group of people.
• Six people were injured, including three homeless.
• There is no evidence of political or religious motivation.
• A breath alcohol test showed about 0.7 per thousand.
• The driver was released after the interrogation.
• The prosecutor has taken over the case.

After the serious car accident at Berlin Zoo station, the police also investigated an illegal car race and driving without a license in a stolen car against a 24-year-old. The theft of the car was reported, the police said on Tuesday. Refail A. was initially arrested, but was released on Sunday. According to the police, he has a permanent address outside of Berlin.

Refail A. is said to have stolen the keys from the car after a violent argument with his former girlfriend from her apartment. In the evening, a police spokesman referred the public prosecutor’s office to investigate the case. There, a spokeswoman did not initially confirm the representation of the station.

Serious accident at Hardenbergplatz: six injured

A total of six people were seriously injured in the accident, the driver himself remained unscathed. The seriously injured should still be interviewed about the accident. Meanwhile, a homeless person continues to receive medical care in an intensive care unit. A police spokesman said that his condition was still critical and that he could not be spoken to. It is not yet known who the man is. According to the fire brigade, he was trapped under the car and had to be resuscitated.

Another of the seriously injured is now approachable, according to the police, and his identity has been clarified. The 44-year-old German has now been interviewed. The third homeless person at the age of 32 was still in the hospital and was also interviewed.

Two 38- and 57-year-old women and a 57-year-old man suffered only minor injuries and were released from the hospital on Sunday. 17 witnesses who watched the terrible event had to be looked after by pastors from the fire brigade.

Car drives in a group of people: the driver had 0.7 per thousand

On Sunday morning, the 24-year-old got off the road and drove into a group of people. The driver of the black Mercedes SUV was arrested. According to the police, witnesses had observed that Refail A. was clearly too fast. The traces at the scene of the accident also indicated this. The car finally came to a stop at a mailbox – the force of the impact tore it out of its anchorage. A breath alcohol test showed him 0.7 per thousand, as a spokesman said.

So far, there is no evidence of political or religious motivation, the police said. Nothing indicated an attack. Refail A. also did not want to flee the scene of the accident, said a police spokesman. There were also no indications that he had driven the car into the group with suicidal intent.

Local investigators interviewed witnesses and examined the off-road vehicle. Hardenbergstrasse and the exit from the Zoologischer Garten S-Bahn station were closed until noon.

District Mayor Reinhard Naumann is concerned

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf’s district mayor Reinhard Naumann (SPD) was concerned about the serious accident on Hardenbergplatz and relieved at the same time that, according to police information, it was not an attack. The memory of the attack of December 19, 2016 on the Christmas market at the Gedächtniskirche would immediately arise. “My thoughts and good wishes are for the partially seriously injured in the accident,” said Naumann.

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