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“It was high speed, it was not a street race, and there are no grounds to speak of a criminal background,” this is what German police say about the accident in Berlin. The 26-year-old driver of a Mercedes with Polish number plates drove into the Brandenburg Gate late on Sunday evening. He died on the spot.
At 11.30 pm on Sunday, a black Mercedes with Polish number plates came at high speed from Unter den Linden street and drove into the Brandenburg Gate. The man behind the wheel died on the spot. No one else was in the car. German police reported that the victim was a 26-year-old man, born in Poland. This information was later also confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
New findings
Witnesses to the accident said in an interview with the “Tagesspiegel” that the Mercedes was travelling at high speed. “I haven’t seen such a speed in the middle of the city yet,” said a witness, estimating the speed at which the car was travelling at more than 200 km/h.
A spokesman for the Berlin police, on the other hand, said that officers are assuming that the Mercedes was travelling at a speed “significantly higher than 100 km/h” when it hit the Brandenburg Gate. Experts will determine the specific speed after examining the wreckage.
The police say that the driver was from Poland and had a post office box registered to him in the German capital, but there is no confirmation yet whether he was living in Berlin.
The body will undergo a post-mortem. The post-mortem is expected to reveal whether the accident was caused by health problems or whether the Pole had alcohol or drugs in his blood.
At the same time, the police have ruled out based on witness statements that the man was involved in night-time street racing, and there is also no indication of a criminal background.
The black Mercedes was registered in Poland in the name of someone else – this person had authorised the 26-year-old to use it.
The police also reported that a family member of the deceased Pole has not been questioned so far. It further reveals that it was a woman who went into shock and was taken into the care of doctors.