Three persons have to date indicated at the duty telephone number of the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin that they cannot locate their relatives, Tamás Menczer, Press Chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said early morning on Tuesday on the public service television news channel M1.
He added: in all three instances, they took down the necessary details and forwarded them to the German police. At this point in time, they are expecting and gathering further information. The consuls rushed to the site, and it seems that the stalls of the Hungarian flat bread and chimney cake vendors were not located in the part of the market where the lorry drove into the crowd, he added.
Mr Menczer stressed: the Berlin incident, too, demonstrates that security must be given top priority, as the Hungarian Government has been saying for some time now.
He repeatedly drew attention to the fact that those who travel abroad should first consult the website of the consular service at konzuliszolgalat.kormany.hu where they may find accurate, up-to-date and useful information with respect to each country. The travel advice featured on the website is updated continuously. He asked those travelling abroad to register for consular protection. „The incident yesterday, too, indicates that this act of registration may be important even in the case of European countries”, Mr Menczer said.
On Monday evening, a lorry drove into the crowd at one of the most famous Christmas markets at the centre of Berlin’s western part, in the Charlottenburg District, at Kurfürstendamm Avenue. Twelve people died, 48 were injured, several of them seriously. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziére did not rule out the possibility of an attack, but the authorities have not yet officially classified the incident. The driver attempted to escape, but he was apprehended. In the meantime, the Berlin police stated the suspicion in a brief Twitter entry that the lorry was stolen from a construction site in Poland. The daily Die Welt reported on its Internet website in the early hours of Tuesday morning with reference to police sources that the driver is presumed to be a refugee from Pakistan who requested asylum in Germany on 16 February this year.