Date-Rape Drug Terror Stalks Berlin

At least one unidentified man is stalking through Berlin's outdoor Christmas markets, giving drugged alcoholic shots to young women. At 10pm yesterday a man dressed as Santa approached two 15-year-old girls at the Alexanderplatz market, offering them each a shot in a paper cup. One girl refused, but her friend downed both. She soon started vomiting and had to be taken to hospital—police said she was given a date rape drug. She's the ninth victim of such an attack at the German capital's traditional Christmas markets this year; a 31-year-old woman and her 33-year-old male companion came forward yesterday, after hearing the latest report, to say they suffered a similar drugging on December 7. The victims have all have been approached by a lone man, often asking them to join in celebrating the birth of his first child with a shot. He's been described as 40 years old and five-foot-nine. Cops are trying to establish whether all the attacks are linked. The symptoms caused by the unnamed drug include dizziness, nausea and loss of consciousness.