The campaign to help the family of Polish driver Lukasz Urban, who died when his truck was hijacked for the Berlin attack, was started by British trucker Dave Duncan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
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A crowdfunding campaign aimed at raising money for the family of the slain Polish truck driver, who apparently tried to thwart the recent terror attack in Berlin, has raised nearly $175,000 (167,000 euros.)
A cousin of Urban, and the owner of the trucking company he was working for, shows a photo of the slain driver.Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/Str
The funding campaign was initiated by British truck driver Dave Duncan on Tuesday. Duncan wrote on the GoFundMe website that he was stunned by the global support.
"I started this with the intention of raising a few hundred pounds for the family from good hearted British truck drivers," he wrote. "Amazing generosity from everybody literally all around the world.....incredible."
On the GoFundMe website Duncan explained that he only expected to raise a few hundred British pounds from British truckers. The amount raised so far is around 20 times the average annual net salary in Poland.
Funding gets global support
As of Saturday evening the page had more than 60,000 shares, and nearly 9,000 people from around the world had opened up their wallets to aid the Urban family.
"No amount of money will bring Lukasz back, but hopefully it will help his family do what ever they need to do," Duncan wrote, in announcing the fund-raising initiative.
Germany's "Bild" newspaper reported that Urban's autopsy indicated he was stabbed while still alive, suggesting he apparently tried to grab the steering wheel to prevent the attacker from driving the truck into the crowded market.
On Friday, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo called Urban "heroic," and said Urban's teenage son and wife would receive a special pension from the state.
bik/jm (Reuters, GoFundMe)
Chronology: Terror plots in Germany
Several times over the past 18 months, police have managed to thwart terror attacks and plots in Germany, which has clearly become a target for Islamic militants in Europe. The following made the headlines:
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
Leipzig, October 2016
Police in Leipzig arrested 22-year-old Syrian refugee Jaber al-Bakr after a two-day manhunt following the discovery of explosives and other bomb-making equipment at his apartment in Chemnitz. He was suspected of plotting to attack a Berlin airport. Two days later, he hanged himself in his prison cell.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Willnow
Ansbach, July 2016
In July, the "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility for two attacks carried out by asylum seekers. 15 people were injured in a crowded wine bar next to the entrance to a music festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach after a rejected Syrian asylum seeker detonated an explosive device. The man killed himself in the attack.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/D. Karmann
Würzburg, July 2016
A 17-year-old asylum seeker wielding an axe and a knife went on a rampage on a regional train near Würzburg, seriously injuring four members of a tourist family from Hong Kong and a passer-by. The attacker was shot dead by police. German authorities said the teenager was believed to be a "lone wolf" inspired by the IS, but without being a member of the network.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Hildenbrand
Düsseldorf, May 2016
Three suspected members of the "Islamic State" terror network were arrested in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Baden Württemberg. Authorities say two of the men planned to blow themselves up in downtown Düsseldorf, while the other attacker and a fourth jihadist arrested in France planned to target pedestrians with guns and explosive devices.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hitij
Essen, April 2016
Police arrested three people over a bomb blast that injured three people in a Sikh temple in Essen. The bomb detonated after a wedding party, blowing out windows and destroying a part of the building's exterior. A 16-year-old suspect turned himself in after police showed footage of the attack from a surveillance camera and special police units arrested another young suspect in his parents' home.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kusch
Hanover, February 2016
German-Moroccan Safia S. is charged with stabbing a police officer at the main train station in the northern city of Hanover. The 16-year-old girl is suspected of having been "motivated by members of the Islamic State group in Syria to commit this act," chief prosecutor Simon Heinrichs said.
Image: Polizei
Berlin, February 2016
In separate raids across the country, police arrested three Algerians suspected of links to the "Islamic State" militant group and of having planned a terrorist attack in Berlin. The Berlin prosecutor's office said prosecutors were aware of a "concrete" plan to target the capital.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Oberursel, April 2015
The Eschborn-Frankfurt City loop bike race was called off after German police discovered it may have been the target of an Islamist terror attack. A 35-year-old German with a Turkish background and his 34-year-old wife were arrested on suspicion of planning the attack. Police found bomb-making materials in their home near the bike route.
