Parts of a Christmas market decoration stick in the windscreen of a truck following an accident with the truck on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue in the west of Berlin, Germany, Dec 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BERLIN -- A lorry ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing nine people and injuring 50 others, Berlin police have announced.

The truck drove over the sideway at Breitscheidplatz, a major public square near the location of the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, in the inner city of Berlin, the police tweeted.

According to witnesses, people screamed and ran desperately for shelter after the truck veered towards the crowd near the Christmas market.

According to the police, the passenger of the truck died on the spot, while a suspicious person was arrested near Breitscheidplatz following the incident. "Whether it is the driver of the truck, is currently under consideration," the police tweeted.

The motive of the incident remains unknown. Police have begun investigations which point to a possible terrorist attack.