Shandana Durrani, a U.S. citizen, stopped to answer a text message moments before a truck plowed through a busy Berlin Christmas market Monday.
“I stopped to respond to a text message that I had gotten from a friend and I think that’s basically what saved me from being hit because as I looked up, this truck was barreling through the market and through the stalls and through the crowd coming almost at me,” Durrani told Good Morning America. She elaborated, “It happened so fast. It felt like slow-motion but I think it was like 10, 15 seconds of it. I didn’t immediately think terror attack.”
The attack killed 12 and injured nearly 48 people, according to Berlin police. Police had a Pakistani refugee suspect in custody, but now say he might not be the perpetrator of the attack.
German prosecutors announced Tuesday they were treated the incident as a terrorist attack. All Christmas markets in Berlin closed Tuesday as a precautionary measure.
The attack bears similarity to the July 14 Nice attack, in which an ISIS inspired French-Tunisian man mowed down nearly 90 people. ISIS’s media has called for truck attacks on civilians since as early as 2015.
Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter
Send tips to saagar@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.