One person was killed and 17 others injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, prompting a large-scale police search for the suspect.
Police said the vehicle struck multiple pedestrians after entering Tiergarten Park, close to the Brandenburg Gate, at around 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) before coming to a stop after hitting a tree.
“When the emergency services arrived, the vehicle was empty. We are therefore working intensively to identify and locate the perpetrator or perpetrators,” a police spokesperson told reporters at the scene.
The Berlin Fire Brigade said eight of the injured sustained serious injuries, including three who were in life-threatening condition.
Police later said they had identified a suspect believed to be linked to the Islamist scene in Berlin and were carrying out measures to locate and arrest him.
“We have identified a suspected perpetrator. Measures against this suspect, who has not yet been arrested, are underway. The individual is known to police as a member of the Islamist scene in Berlin,” the spokesperson said.
Authorities described the vehicle as white and said it was believed to be a car, minivan or minibus. German newspaper Bild, citing a witness, reported that the vehicle was a van and that a man fled the scene on foot after the crash.
Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered peacefully in the German capital for the annual Christopher Street Day celebrations, one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ Pride events, before the incident brought the festivities to an abrupt halt.
A large emergency response remained at the scene as investigators continued their search for the suspect.