Berlin
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A van slammed into folks gathered for Berlin’s famed LGBTQ+ occasion on Saturday night time, killing one particular person, injuring not less than 16 others and prompting police to name off the celebrations and a live performance within the German capital hours after that they had begun.
Berlin police mentioned they’ve recognized a suspect who has not been arrested and he has ties to Islamic extremists within the German capital.
“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” mentioned police spokesman Florian Nath. He didn’t identify the suspect by title.
Earlier, police mentioned a number of the victims had life-threatening accidents. In a publish on X, police known as on everybody to go away the positioning of the occasion instantly as ambulances and firefighters attended to the victims.
“We are conducting an intensive search for possible suspects,” police officer Florian Nath mentioned on a brief video launched on the Berlin police account on X.
According to police, a white van had pushed into the Tiergarten park round 10 p.m., which is subsequent to the route that the pleasure march had handed alongside earlier, and hit a number of folks earlier than colliding with a tree. Police couldn’t say what number of officers had been deployed to the scene however that it was “definitely a lot of police.”
Overall, greater than 2,200 police officers have been on obligation in Berlin since Saturday morning to guard the pleasure parade and different LGBTQ+ occasions within the metropolis.
Police had been conducting witness interrogations on the park throughout the night time and had been investigating accounts that along with the crash some victims appeared to have suffered stab wounds — however that it was too early to attract any conclusion from these accounts.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner.”
“This is an attack on our free and cosmopolitan society,” Wegner mentioned. “I have confidence in the police and security authorities, who will be working around the clock to investigate.”
Meanwhile, authorities known as on potential witnesses to come back ahead and share with police any video or pictures they may have taken on the scene of the assault.
The metropolis additionally activated a disaster hotline for folks lacking pals or relations.
Hundreds of 1000’s of individuals had come to Berlin on Saturday to rejoice at Berlin’s pleasure parade, recognized in Germany as Christopher Street Day. It’s one in all Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.
The pleasure occasion in entrance of town’s Brandenburg Gate, close to Tiergarten, was known as off round 10:15 p.m. and a band’s efficiency on stage was interrupted. People had been urged to go residence and to keep away from taking the route via the park.
Before the incident, folks had celebrated peacefully, marching via town for hours, dancing to loud music, and cheering the round 80 floats that participated within the parade.
Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ celebration on the Brandenburg Gate earlier, mentioned he had simply needed to go to an afterparty when he heard from a buddy that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”
He mentioned he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that one thing like this might have occurred at Berlin’s pleasure celebrations.
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he mentioned.