A van ramming and stabbing near Berlin’s pride festival that left one person dead and many others injured is believed to have been an Islamic extremist terror attack, Germany’s interior minister said on Sunday.
The suspect in Saturday’s attack remains at large, reports Breaking News.
Authorities issued a wanted notice and warned people against approaching Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, saying he may be armed and dangerous.
Authorities said he is believed to have injured several people with a van in a park near the pride festival’s closing party, with several people also apparently stabbed, reports Breaking News.
Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect is believed to have injured people with a machete.
“Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack,” Mr Dobrindt said, putting the number of injured at 29, reports Breaking News.
Police had said earlier that they had identified a suspect who has ties to Islamic groups in 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,” said police spokesperson Florian Nath, adding that investigators had no information on “his specific motives,” reports Breaking News.
Police conducted operations across the city as they searched for him.
Julian Miethig, who had attended the pride festival nearby, said he wanted to go to an after-party when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances,” reports Breaking News.
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.
According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park at about 10pm and hit several people before colliding with a tree, reports Breaking News.
The closing party at the festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was continuing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away, after a parade with some 80 floats which had made its way through Berlin earlier in the day.
Police said a woman was killed, reports Breaking News.
Berlin’s fire service said that three people sustained life-threatening injuries, another eight were seriously injured and five had slight injuries.
The event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off at about 10.15pm and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted, with people urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park, reports Breaking News.
One of the presenters at the party, Ricarda Hofmann, wrote on Instagram that she had been there “not just as a moderator, but as part of a community that comes together to be visible. To celebrate love. To stand up for each other.”
She said the attack left her speechless. “What happened today has changed something in me,” she wrote, reports Breaking News.
Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, making it one of Europe’s largest LGBT celebrations.
The van, with its battered front resting against a tree, could still be seen at the scene on Sunday, reports Breaking News.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz described what happened as “an attack on our society.”
“What an abhorrent act in Berlin,” Mr Merz wrote on X, adding that Germany loves freedom “and we will preserve and defend that,” reports Breaking News.
In the neighbouring Netherlands, Amsterdam is hosting World Pride this week and next alongside its own annual celebrations.
Mayor Femke Halsema said authorities and organisers “are closely monitoring the security situation” after the Berlin attack, reports Breaking News.
She said security was always high for such events and extra measures would be added where necessary, “which visitors will hopefully notice as little as possible. Because we don’t want to be scared and we want to be able to celebrate freedom and being able to be who you are and love who you want to,” reports Breaking News.
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