Truck plows into crowd at Berlin Christmas market, one dead

BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A truck plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring several others, the police said.

Local media, citing police at the scene, said first indications pointed to an attack on the market, situated near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue and at the foot of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church that was kept as a ruin after World War Two.

Images from the scene in Berlin:

The incident evoked memories of an attack in France in July when Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, killing 86 people.

Police shot the driver dead in the Nice attack claimed by Islamic State.

Television pictures from Berlin showed the truck standing amid debris by small wooden stalls that make up the "Christkindlmarkt" of which there are several in Berlin at this time of year. Police cars and ambulances converged on the scene.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Writing by Robin Pomeroy and Ralph Boulton)