German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those who paid tribute to the 12 victims of the Christmas market terror attack in Berlin on Tuesday, December 19, to mark the one-year anniversary of their deaths.
The German leader joined Berlin’s mayor, Michael Müller, and mourners for a short, sombre ceremony at the scene of the attack in Breitscheidplatz square. This video released by the German government shows them standing at the top of a set of steps in Breitscheidplatz. The victims’ names have been inscribed on the steps as part of a city memorial next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Attendees laid white roses and lit candles in tribute to the victims.
Merkel’s government has faced criticism for alleged security failings in relation to the attack, and its subsequent handling of the aftermath. Speaking at Tuesday’s memorial event, she admitted the government needed to reflect on past shortcomings.
According to German magazine Der Spiegel, she said at the memorial event: “Today is a day for mourning but also a day for the determination of making things better that did not work [in the past].”
Meanwhile, according to German magazine Stern, Müller said the wounds of the victims and their loved ones could “never all be cured, but hopefully mitigated.” He added that all people “share their pain”.
The attack on December 19, 2016, left 12 people dead, including the truck’s original Polish driver, Łukasz Urban. Fifty-six others were injured, in what was Germany’s most deadly Islamist terror attack. Tunisian Anis Amri, recruited to carry out the attack by ISIL, was subsequently killed by police in Milan during a shootout on December 23. Credit: Facebook/ Bundesregierung via Storyful
