Funeral of first Berlin attack victim held in Poland

The funeral of Lukasz Urban, Polish truck driver and the first victim of the Berlin attack on Dec. 19, was held in Banie, northwestern Poland, on Friday.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, head of Prime Minister's Chancellery, Beata Kempa and representative of the German Embassy in Poland took part in the funeral.

A letter of Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was read, which said the Poles had become victims of extremist attacks before, "but the tragedy in Berlin is exceptional as far as the cruelty of the perpetrator is concerned."

"In this difficult moment, I wish to express deepest sympathy and compassion to the family and friends of Lukasz Urban,"wrote Szydlo.

In the afternoon, trucks parked in Banie sounded their horns as a sign of mourning. This was followed by drivers throughout the country. A funeral procession of trucks and buses was also organized.

On Dec. 19, a truck with Polish registration number crashed into crowd on a Christmas market in Berlin, leaving 12 people killed and about 50 others wounded.

According to the German police, the truck was driven by Anis Amri, 24-year-old Tunisian, who was afterwards shot dead by the police in Italy.

The first victim was the Polish driver Urban who was shot by the attacker. Endit