Child dies after falling from bicycle under Berlin BVG bus in Tiergarten

What happened

At around 17:00 on Saturday, 14 November, a child was riding a bicycle on Potsdamer Straße in Berlin-Tiergarten together with its mother. Police said the child fell from the bicycle near the junction with Lützowstraße, for a reason that has not yet been established. A Berlin BVG bus then ran over the child, who died at the scene from serious injuries.

The mother and the police response

The mother was also injured, police said, and is in shock while receiving medical care. How serious her injuries are has not been reported. Police closed Potsdamer Straße in both directions, a closure reported around 18:00 on the same day. TVP Info reported that the bus was no longer at the scene when emergency services arrived, and that it is unclear whether the driver knew the child had been struck.

Open questions

Police did not initially give the child's age when asked, and media reports did not say whether the child was a boy or a girl. Police have not explained how the fall happened, so it is unclear whether the driver could have seen the child beforehand. According to TVP Info, a criminal investigation unit has opened an investigation that will examine the circumstances of the accident. Police spokesman Florian Nath had given the initial account of the accident on the same day.