SOURCE: BBC
A massive manhunt is under way in Germany after a suspected “Islamist terror attack” at a Berlin Pride event on Saturday night
One woman is dead and at least 29 injured after a van drove into a crowd – the suspect then attacked people with a blade that “might have been a machete”
He has been named as Abdul Ballout; a German citizen of Lebanese background who was known to police and had previously “committed a number of crimes”
“We cannot rule out the possibility of copycat attacks,” warns Germany’s interior minister, as he announces that the country’s threat level will be raised
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says extremists “have no place in our society”, vowing to do everything in the government’s power to see justice served
Berlin should have woken up this morning with a massive hangover after a great party. Instead, it woke up to the sobering realisation of yet another deadly attack hitting the country, writes our reporter in Berlin
Merz then addresses participants in Pride events, appealing to them not to be intimidated.
“These attacks only have one goal,” he says: to “divide our society” and take away “openness and freedom”.
Officials will do everything in their power to arrest the perpetrator or perpetrators, Merz says, adding that they will “act decisively but also thoughtfully”.
“These extremists have no place in our society,” he goes on, saying Germany will not allow the “poison of terrorism” to affect its society.
“We will defend the freedom and openness of our lives,” the chancellor says.
Merz has now finished his brief remarks.
Merz begins by saying it is a “very sad occasion” that brings people here.
His thoughts are with the victims and loved ones of the “Islamist terrorist attack last night”.
He wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.
The chancellor then thanks the first responders for their “exemplary” fast response.
“They prevented things from getting worse yesterday,” he adds.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is delivering an update following last night’s deadly attack in Berlin.
He’s speaking in front of St. Mary’s Church, where a service is being held in tribute to the attack’s victims.
You can watch live above, and we’ll bring you updates here.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner says the incident was an “alleged Islamist attack on our way of living together”
We’ve just been hearing from Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner. Here’s what we learned:
The death toll remains at one, and 29 people are believed to be injured, some seriously
The suspect first “rammed into a crowd with a car”, killing one person, then “attacked the crowd with some type of blade“, which could have been a machete
Dobrindt said everything they’re seeing “indicates that we have experienced an Islamist terror attack”
The suspect, who’s still on the run, has previously been known to police and has committed a number of crimes. He was radicalised and known to be part of the Islamist scene
The mayor said there was a high level of security at the Pride event, adding that the festival site couldn’t be attacked because it was secured by police
They’re now focused on acting “quickly as possible” to investigate the perpetrator or perpetrators, and are working with police across the nation to do so12:42
The mayor says there was a “high level of security” at the Pride event.
Kai Wegner says he was asked whether the protection was sufficient, but says the festival site “was not attacked because the perpetrator wasn’t able to make it there, because that had been secured by police”.
However, he says that 400m from the event site, there were people on their way to or from the event, as well as others walking around.
He says they now need to act “as quickly as possible to investigate the perpetrator or perpetrators”.
They’re working with police nationwide to track down the suspect.
He ends by thanking the organisers of the Pride event.
The official update is now finished – we will bring you a recap of what has been said soon.:37
Wegner goes on to say that the attack “is an alleged Islamist attack on our way of living together, on our liberal democracy, on our openness, on our freedom”.
He says there will be a memorial service and people will walk together to Brandenburg Gate.
He says the flags are at half-mast at city hall.
The interior minister ends his comments, with Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner now speaking.
Wegner says yesterday was a “dark day”, but before that it was a “bright, colourful day, showing just how open and diverse the city is”.
He says Berlin was showing itself “as a city of freedom” and that “colourful is actually a lovely thing to be”.
They had help from many organisations, alongside the fire brigade and police, and he thanks them for working together so quickly – they were “on the scene immediately”, he adds.
“We cannot rule out the possibility of copycat attacks,” warns the interior minister.
He announces that Germany’s threat level will be raised as a result.
The minister describes the attack’s aftermath as a “horrific scene”, recounting how the van drove through a crowd of pedestrians, causing serious injuries.
Dobrindt then thanks all those “brave people” who stepped in to ensure there were no more deaths.
Giving more details about the attack, he says it took place a few hundred metres away from where the Pride festival was being held.
He says the people at the scene were either in Tiergarten park or on their way to or from the Pride festival.
He says mobile phones have been found and handed to investigators. They’ll be searched, but he can’t give any further details at the moment.
Dobrindt says the suspect had previously been sentenced.
Outlining the sentence, he says the suspect was given one year and 10 months in prison in Berlin, but the sentence was commuted to parole.
The public prosecutor had tried to appeal that decision, the minister says.
Dobrindt says: “The suspect we are dealing with had already been known to police.”
He says the suspect had committed a number of crimes, had previously been radicalised and was known for being part of the Islamist scene.
Dobrindt adds that the suspect is a German citizen of Lebanese background. He says the suspect was born in Germany in 2004 and his mother was naturalised as a German citizen in 2002.
The interior minister says one person has died and he understands that there are 29 injured, some of them seriously.
Alexander Dobrindt says the suspect “rammed into a crowd with a car” last night.
The suspect “then attacked the crowd with some type of blade, it might have been a machete, and also severely injured those people”.
