A manhunt is underway for a 21-year-old suspect after a vehicle was driven into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival on Saturday night, killing a woman and injuring 29 others.
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The suspect is also believed to have attacked people with a bladed object, authorities said. The attack 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.
Police released a photo of a suspect, named as 21-year-old Abdul B., who officials said is known to be a “radicalized” member of “Islamist circles” in Berlin.
“Everything we are seeing here indicates that we have experienced an Islamist attack,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told a press conference on Sunday.
He said that the suspect is a German citizen of Lebanese background known to police after committing crimes in the past. Abdul B. had previously been sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison in Berlin, he said, which was commuted to parole. He did not say what the sentence was for.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that further terrorist attacks might take place,” he said, adding that Germany’s threat level would be raised following the attack.
The attack was outside the secure festival area, Dobrindt said, adding that many of those attacked were going to or from the festival site.
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.”
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.
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 1.9 meters (6-foot-3) 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 canceled in the aftermath.
