American Survives German Terrorist Attack Because Of A Text Message

Shandana Durrani is a U.S. woman who was at the Berlin Christmas market when a truck plowed through the crowd on Monday.
She believes she survived because of a friend’s text message.

“I was on my way out of the market after doing a little bit of shopping,” Durrani said today from Berlin on “Good Morning America.”

“I stopped to respond to a text message that I had gotten from a friend and I think that’s basically what saved me from being hit because as I looked up, this truck was barreling through the market and through the stalls and through the crowd coming almost at me.”

In what investigators are calling a terrorist attack, a man used a truck to crash into a crowded Christmas market in a public square in Berlin on Monday evening.

The tragic event killed at least 12 people and injured 48 others.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement on Tuesday, “This is a difficult day. I am, like millions of people during these hours, horrified and shocked by what happened at the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin.”

“We must assume that it was a terrorist attack,” she said.

According to authorities, a male passenger who was in the truck died at the scene. He is being counted as one of the 12 dead and was not the one to control the truck.

Although a potential suspect was arrested, German Attorney General Peter Frank told reporters that he may not be the actual suspect. According to Frank, multiple people may have played a part in the attack.

Berlin police sent out a tweet stating that the truck involved was stolen from a building site in Poland.

“The person who was driving and jumped out of the truck was not my driver. I can vouch for my driver,” Ariel Zaurawski, the Polish owner of the truck, told Reuters.

In what is an ongoing investigation, President Elect Donald Trump called the incident “horrifying.”

“Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today’s horrifying terror attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” Trump said.

“ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners,” he continued.