Berlin Police Hunt Islamist Suspect After Deadly Pride Vehicle Attack
Details of the Berlin Pride Attack and Ongoing Investigation
By Kirsti Knolle
Overview of the Incident
BERLIN, July 26 (Reuters) - Berlin police have published a picture of a 21-year-old Islamist man suspected of carrying out Saturday night's attack at the Pride celebration in which a vehicle rammed into a crowd, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen.
Police Appeal and Search Efforts
In Sunday's online post, police urged members of the public to help them find the man identified as Abdul B, adding that it was not clear whether he acted alone. They said more than one person may have got out of the vehicle after it came to a halt close to the city's Brandenburg Gate.
Victims and Injuries
Three of the 16 people who were injured in the attack were in a life-threatening condition, and some of the injuries included stab wounds, police and emergency services said.
Impact on Pride Celebrations
Organisers of the annual Christopher Street Day celebrations, Berlin's annual LGBTQ Pride, cancelled the remainder of the events.
Suspect Description and Investigation
Suspected Perpetrator
Police described the wanted man as slim, around 1.90 metres (6 foot 2) tall, with black hair, and last seen wearing a black hooded top and white trousers. They said he was part of the "Islamist spectrum".
"Who can share anything about his current whereabouts?" the statement said.
Unresolved Details
Several key details about the incident remained unclear.
Vehicle Information and Additional Suspects
While the police described the white vehicle only vaguely as possibly a car or minivan or minibus, tabloid newspaper Bild said it was a white Citroen Space Tourer delivery vehicle that Abdul B rented himself. The police are also searching for a second suspected attacker, Bild reported.
Location and Police Actions
Police said the vehicle came to a stop in the central Tiergarten park.
"According to our latest information, the vehicle drove ... into the Tiergarten around 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), injuring several people in the process, and then came to a standstill after hitting a tree here in the Tiergarten," a police spokesperson at the scene said overnight.
"It was empty, which is why we are currently working intensively to track down the perpetrator or perpetrators."
(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle;Writing by Francois Murphy;Editing by Helen Popper)
