“Terrible screams” filled the air as a seven-ton truck came hurtling through a cheerful Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday night, a Maltese eyewitness told the Times of Malta.

“There was a great atmosphere. I was just having a look at the things on display – small Christmas trees and decorations – and then, suddenly, a roar of terrible screams erupted and panic took over. I didn’t know what to expect. One minute it was Christmas and the next its hell,” Alisson Grech Schäfer, a Maltese expat living in Berlin, recounted yesterday.

Twelve people were killed and at least 48 were injured, some seriously, in what is being treated by the German authorities as an act of terrorism.

It is not yet known who was driving the vehicle, which mounted the pavement at about 70 kilometres-an-hour and ploughed through the bustling marketplace.

“I was lucky I wasn’t hurt at all. I know many weren’t as lucky as me. It was truly horrifying,” Mrs Grech Schäfer, 39, said.

She was not the only Maltese to witness the incident.

We must admit this was a very scary experience

A Maltese couple holidaying in the German capital took to Facebook yesterday to assure friends and family that although they had been at the market at the time of the attack they were fine. Attempts to contact the two proved unsuccessful but a personal Facebook status the couple uploaded read: “To all our relatives and friends who are concerned about this Berlin news, both of us are safe! We were very close and must admit this was a scary experience.”

They had been standing just a few metres from where the truck, which was carrying heavy metal beams, drove through the busy market.

A group of nearly 50 Maltese young athletes travelled to Berlin for a swimming competition held over the weekend. Most of the group of swimmers, aged between 10 and 18 from three local swimming clubs, however had already returned home before the incident occurred.

Members of the aquatic sports community told this newspaper a few had remained there with their parents, turning a short swim meet into an impromptu family holiday.

“We actually went to the market on the day. We left just a few minutes before this crazy thing happened. I keep thinking ‘what if’, you know. What if I had stopped to look at a few more stalls? Would I be talking to you now,” one of the parents wondered.

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