Berlin attack victims: Italian woman Fabrizia Di Lorenzo feared dead in lorry massacre

Feared dead: Italian Fabrizia Di Lorenzo
Hatty Collier21 December 2016

A missing Italian woman is feared to be among the victims of the Berlin lorry massacre.

Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, 31, who lives and works in Germany, has been missing since the attack on the crowded Christmas market on Monday night.

Relatives and friends of Ms Di Lorenzo were appealing for information about her in the aftermath of the atrocity, which left 12 people dead and injured 50.

Her mobile phone and travel pass were found at the scene of the attack on the Christmas market near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church where the articulated lorry careered through huts and stalls packed with visitors.

Aftermath: The lorry ploughed into the crowded Christmas market
Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters

A person, claiming to be her cousin, said on social media that they had not heard from Ms Di Lorenzo, a transport specialist, since Monday night and that her belongings had been found at the site.

“My cousin (Fabrizia Di Lorenzo) not replying to us since yesterday night. Someone found her phone and metro pass on the site,” the tweet said.

Italian website Repubblica reported that members of her family had travelled to Berlin to submit DNA samples in a bid to identify her.

Fears over her whereabouts were first raised on Tuesday morning when she did not turn up to work, according to the website.

Berlin terror attack: Horror as lorry ploughs into crowds

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Her father was reported as saying “There should be no doubt, waiting for confirmation but I have no illusions.”

Six of the 12 other victims have been identified as German.

On Tuesday night Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Eleven people died when the articulated lorry ploughed through huts and stalls at the Christmas market, along with a Polish man found shot dead inside the lorry's cab identified as Łukasz Urban.

The 37-year-old was said to have “fought for his life” before being killed by the assailant behind the attack.

Ariel Zurawski, the owner of a Polish trucking company and cousin of Lukasz Urban, speaks to reporters in Poland
AP

Investigators were on Wednesday pouring over every detail of his final hours in Berlin in a search for clues about who might be behind the attack.

Ariel Zurawski, the owner of the trucking company, and the victim’s cousin said it was clear that Mr Urban had engaged in a struggle.

Ariel Zurawski, the owner of a Polish trucking company, shows the last photo taken of his cousin and driver, Lukasz Urban
AP

He told the Polish broadcaster TVP that Urban’s face had been left “swollen and bloodied”.

“It was really clear that he fought,” Żurawski said.

A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker was detained in the aftermath of the attack in the German capital.

However, German police later they had the wrong man and the person behind the massacre was still at large.

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