Berlin: John Barrowman caught up in ‘horrific’ incident that left one dead and dozens injured

Steve Hopkins

The Dr Who actor posted a series of videos from the scene before returning to his hotel

John Barrowman has described the “horrific” scenes in Berlin after one person was killed and dozens injured after a car ploughed into a crowd of people on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Rankestrasse near the main shopping district’s Breitscheidplatz, the scene of the 2016 Christmas market attack in which 11 people were killed.

The driver of the small silver Renault was arrested at the scene in Charlottenburg, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.

Barrowman first tweeted about the incident shortly after 10am, saying it was “pretty horrific”.

The former Dancing On Ice judge was just metres away from the scene, when he shared a series of videos, describing how he heard a huge noise and saw a car careering down the road, running someone over before returning down the same road.

In his first tweet, Barrowman suggested he had “witnessed a terrorist attack”, but police are yet to confirm that, saying it is not clear whether the incident was the result of an accident or whether the driver had intentionally driven into the crowd.

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The Doctor Who actor said it was “really pretty bad, guys”, as he surveyed the scene, swarming with emergency services.

“Over where we are here there’s a lot of police, there’s a dead body in the middle of the road then over here there is all the emergency services that are trying to help victims and people,” he explained, before adding that he was told to stay behind a tree “just in case anything else happens because it’s something that’s between us and any other vehicles that may come”.

“There’s a lot of people walking with limps and injuries. If I’m pointing to you from the road, up there the car came down onto the pavement… we had dinner in that restaurant last night,” he said, pointing out the scene around him.”

Berlin police wrote on Twitter: “A man is believed to have driven into a group of people. It is not yet known whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.”

Barrowman went on to describe what he saw: “If I’m pointing to you from the road, up there, the car came down onto the pavement, we had dinner in that restaurant last night, the car came down onto the pavement and has some onto the road over there, has hit somebody and then has gone down the road and has come back onto the pavement down that way, and come back onto the pavement and gone through a bunch of people, gone through the photograph I posted of a cafe and right into a storefront window.”

He went on: “The police presence is unbelievable, they are clearing out the area but it was cordoned off, I heard the bang and the crash when I was in a store and we just saw the carnage.

“There are helicopters coming now to airlift people, so I’m gonna let you see this then I’ll get back to you.”

Barrowman continued: “This is bad, this is serious. I mean, really bad. There’s multiple fatalities, there is hundreds of emergency services that are in the area, they’re blocking off city block after city block, and the cordon keeps expanding and we’re being pushed back and out.”

The actor later walked back to the safety of his hotel where he asked media to give him time to respond to requests for comment.