Polish lorry driver’s cousin says the 37-year-old ‘fought for his life’ after being ‘fatally stabbed and shot’ by Berlin terror trucker
Driver Lukasz Urban had been transporting steel beams to Germany when his truck was hijacked and he was shot dead
THE Polish lorry driver whose truck was hijacked by the Berlin Christmas Market attacker "was stabbed and shot to death", his cousin has revealed.
Dad-of-one Lukasz Urban, 37, is believed to be one of the first victims of yesterday's terror attack at Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz.
The lorry used in the terrorist attack which killed 12 people and injured 50 was registered to Polish firm Ariel Zurawski.
The suspect hijacked the truck on Monday hours before the killings.
Police confirmed the lorry's original driver Lukasz Urban, 37, was returning from transporting steel beams into Germany.
He was found stabbed and shot in the cab after the murder hijacking, and died at the scene.
The driver's cousin Ariel Zurawski, who owns the firm, said there was no way his relative was involved.
Mr Zurawski, whose company is based in Gryfino in northwest Poland, told says German authorities asked him to identify the victim from photos.
He said: "His face was swollen and bloodied. It was really clear that he was fighting for his life."
Lukasz Wasik, the manager of the trucking company, described Urban as a "good, quiet and honest person" devoted to his work.
"I believe he would not give up the vehicle and would defend it to the end if were attacked."
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Zurawski said that after reaching his destination, Lukasz had parked and gone to get a kebab sandwich.
He had been planning to unload his cargo of 24 tonnes of steel parts the next morning.
Around noon, the two cousins spoke. Lukasz said he was hungry and that there were few Germans in the neighbourhood where he parked, mostly Muslims.
"We made a few jokes, we laughed," Zurawski said.
Lukasz, father of a teenage boy, had been a truck driver for some 15 years, working for his cousin's company based in Sobiemysl near the Polish-German border.
After over a week on the road, he was eager to get home, Zurawski said.
It emerged his wife had called Lukasz at around 3pm, but there was no answer when she tried later.
"The phone was just silent, silent, " added Zurawski. "He should have picked up if he was on a break, particularly if his wife was calling."
Polish media reported that GDP recordings from the truck indicated “suspicious” activity earlier in the day, reports .
It is claimed that someone attempted to turn on the engine several times before driving off.
The Scania-made lorry was fully laden with steel, making the heavy lorry even more deadly.
The Polish foreign ministry said it had no information about Polish citizens being among those killed or injured.
In a tweet, Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote: “Whoever can, please pray for the health of the wounded, and for the souls of those who died.”
The smashed front of the vehicle after it hit and killed 12 people and injured dozens of more people
Polish prime minister Beata Szydlo said it is “with pain and sadness we received the information that the first victim of this heinous act of violence was a Polish citizen”.
And Lukasz Wasik, an employee at the Polish haulage company , said it was curious that the GPS system used to plot the location of the lorry at any one time, showed that it had been started and stopped three times after it was supposed to be stationary near the gates of the delivery destination.
He said the GPS data history makes it look as if "someone were first learning to drive the truck".
According to the GPS data, someone at 3.44pm started the engine. Then the ignition was triggered at 4.52pm and at 5.37pm.
But the truck did not move, which could indicate the driver was stalling over and over - just like a beginner.
He eventually drove away at 7.34pm and shortly after 8pm launched his vile attack at the Christmas market.
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