The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, vowed to punish those responsible after a car struck people on the outskirts of Berlin’s Gay Pride celebrations, killing at least one person and wounding 16 others.
A suspected perpetrator of the apparent attack on Saturday night has been identified as a member of the city’s “Islamist scene” but he has not yet been arrested, a Berlin police spokesperson said.
The attack forced organisers to cut short one of Europe’s largest Pride events and comes as Germany remains on edge after a series of deadly vehicle and knife attacks in recent years.
Hours after the apparent attack many details remained unclear, but police said the vehicle struck multiple people after charging into the city’s central Tiergarten park close to the Brandenburg Gate.
Police said those hurt “included several with life-threatening injuries”.
The driver of a white van had swerved shortly before 10pm into the Tiergarten park, close to the route of the Pride march held earlier in the day, hitting people on a path and crashing into a tree, police said.
“[The vehicle] was empty, which is why we are currently working intensively to track down the perpetrator or perpetrators,” police said. Tabloid newspaper Bild cited a witness as saying that a man emerged from the vehicle and fled on foot.
A manhunt involving helicopters and officers from several German states was under way across the capital on Sunday.
A Berlin fire department spokesperson, Dominik Pretz, said one person died and at least 16 others were injured.
Emergency workers set up a helicopter landing pad near the Reichstag parliament building to transport the injured to hospitals.
Merz said in a statement that he and the interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, would “push to make sure this horrific act is fully investigated and punished”.
Julian Methig, who attended the event, described it as a terrible day. “It’s one of the worst days for the queer community and a day I personally hoped I’d never have to experience … I’m shocked.”
Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in the German capital in warm summer sunshine to celebrate the pride parade.
It is known in Germany as Christopher Street Day (CSD), named after the site of the Stonewall Inn in New York City where riots against police raids touched off the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. CSD was first held in West Berlin in 1979.