Extra security at Christmas markets following Berlin attack

Extra police forces have been deployed at Christmas markets in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp following what is being called a terrorist attack on Berlin’s Christmas market last night. A reported 12 people were killed and more than 50 injured when a man drove a lorry into the crowd.

According to a spokesperson for the Antwerp police, extra forces and military personnel were brought in “minutes after the incident in Berlin”. The Christmas market will receive extra attention over the coming days, he said.

As news from Berlin filtered through, Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever called for a moment of silence at the monthly meeting of the city council, later tweeting “Wir sind Berliner” – We are all Berliners.

Meanwhile, in Ghent, “all possible precautionary measures have been taken,” said mayor Daniel Termont. At the city’s Christmas market, concrete blocks have been installed to deny access to vehicles, while police numbers have been reinforced. “We have told our people to be extra vigilant,” he said.

In Brussels, the situation is already adjusted every day to meet circumstances, a spokesperson for Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur said. “We make a new risk analysis every day,” she said. “Security measures are adapted according to that.”

The federal home affairs ministry said that the office for risk assessment OCAM was following developments closely and would be analysing Christmas markets in particular. In the Berlin attack, apparently inspired by the attack in Nice last summer, the perpetrator drove the lorry for 50 to 80 metres through the crowd. The driver has been arrested and identified as a 23-year-old refugee from Pakistan or Afghanistan.

“We have been in contact with OCAM, and, for the time being, there is no sign of a link to Belgium,” said a spokesperson for home affairs minister Jan Jambon. “We are already at [terrorist risk] level three, and we are aware that Christmas markets are an easy target. On the basis of the information we have now about Berlin, there is no basis for supposing the situation in Belgium is any different today than it was yesterday. We could not be more ready than we already are.”

Photo: Police in Berlin examine the truck that drove into the Christmas market, killing 12 people
©AFP/BELGA