A manhunt is underway for a 21-year-old suspect after a vehicle was driven into a crowd at Berlin’s Pride festival on Saturday night, killing a woman and injuring 16 others.
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Several people are also reported to have been stabbed during the attack, authorities said, which happened in Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. local time, near the Brandenburg Gate landmark in the German capital.
Three of the injured people have life-threatening injuries, Berlin’s fire department spokesman Dominik Pretz said Sunday morning, adding that eight are seriously injured and five have minor injuries.
Police released a photo of a suspect, named as 21-year-old Abdul B., who they said is known to be a member of “Islamist circles” in Berlin.
“Our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said Sunday, adding that investigators had no information on “specific motives.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned the incident in Berlin as “a heinous act.”
“They wanted us to treat each other with kindness and tolerance. This is an attack on our society,” he wrote on X, adding that the attack will be investigated with the “utmost severity.”
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said he was shocked by “this cowardly, abhorrent attack on people celebrating peacefully.”
Saturday “should have been a day of joy, visibility and freedom,” Alfonso Pantisano, the Berlin state government’s Queer Liaison Officer, wrote on social media.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her sympathy to the victims on Sunday, saying the Pride event stands for “freedom, dignity, and equality.”
“Every person should be able to live, love, and stand up for their rights without fear,” she wrote on social media.
Abdul B. is believed to have injured several people with a vehicle, authorities said, adding that one or more people then left that vehicle.
A white vehicle suspected of being used in the attack has also been pictured inside the police cordon. The vehicle appears to have crashed into a tree.
The suspect is described as having a slim build, around 1.9m tall with black hair, a black hoodie and white pants.
Sunday’s notice warned the public to avoid “direct contact” with the suspect, saying that he may be armed and dangerous.
Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin for one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations on Saturday. The parade had passed through the park earlier in the day.
Pride events were called off around 10:15 p.m., shortly after the attack, with all further celebrations cancelled in the aftermath.
