Full of apologies but, no action:German Chancellor Merkel: We displayed weakness in handling the 2016 Christmas market attack

German Chancellor Merkel: We displayed weakness in handling the 2016 Christmas market attack

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Mourners, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) and Bundetag President Wolfgang Schaeuble (center-left), prepare to lay candles Tuesday during a memorial service, honoring the victims at the site of the 2016 Christmas market terror attack in Berlin, Germany. A Tunisian immigrant Anis Amri hijacked a truck after killing the driver and plowed it into the Christmas market, killing 11 people and injuring many others in an Islamist-motivated plot. (Gallup/Getty Images) 

Kevin RyanSTAFF WRITER

At the unveiling of a memorial in the Breitscheidplatz plaza, the site of last year’s Christmas market truck attack, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted to mistakes in handling the incident, which killed 12 people and injured many others  — a year ago to the day.

“Today is a day for mourning but also a day for the determination of making things better that did not work (in the past),” Merkel said, according to Reuters.

Surrounded by a somber scene in Berlin, Merkel spoke to a crowd of mourners and victims. The attack marked the deadliest on German soil in decades. In the aftermath, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

“For me, and I speak for the whole government, it’s a question of working to improve the things that did not go well,” Merkel said in a speech. “We will do what’s humanly possible not just to ensure security but to help give those whose life was destroyed or affected the opportunity to return to their life. It was a very open and, on the part of the people affected, very blunt conversation which showed the weaknesses our state displayed in this situation.”

For months, German authorities had been aware of Anis Amri, the Tunisian refugee responsible for the Christmas market attack. After the attack, Amri fled Germany to Italy, where he was shot and killed by police several days later.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier echoed Merkel’s sentiment.

“It’s bitter that the state could not protect your relatives,” Steinmeier said addressing the crowd.

Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller unveiled the memorial, which featured the names of those killed on Dec. 19, 2016, as well as an giant gash in the ground, which represents the lives torn apart in the attack.

Starting at 8:02 p.m., the time of the incident, a church bell rang every minute, one ring for each of the 12 victims of the attack.