One killed, 17 injured after vehicle ploughs into crowd in Berlin

Berlin. One person was killed and 17 others injured, three of them critically, after a vehicle ploughed into a crowd near Berlin's Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, prompting a major police manhunt.

The incident occurred at around 10pm local time in the city's central Tiergarten park, close to the Brandenburg Gate, where hundreds of thousands of people had gathered for the annual Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebrations, one of Europe's largest LGBTQ events.

Police said the vehicle drove into the crowd before crashing into a tree. When officers arrived, the vehicle was empty, indicating that the driver had fled the scene.

"We are working intensively to track down the perpetrator or perpetrators," a police spokesperson said.

Authorities later said they had identified a suspect believed to be linked to Berlin's Islamist scene, although no arrest had been made by late Saturday.

Emergency services said eight of the injured sustained serious injuries, with three in life-threatening condition.

Police described the vehicle as white and said it was believed to be either a car, van or minibus. German newspaper Bild, quoting a witness, reported that the driver abandoned the vehicle and escaped on foot.

The attack brought the Pride celebrations to an abrupt end after the event had proceeded peacefully throughout the day.

"It's one of the worst days for the queer community and a day I hoped I'd never have to experience," said attendee Julian Miethig. "I'm shocked."

Christopher Street Day commemorates the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York and combines a parade with campaigns for equality, inclusion and protection against discrimination. First held in West Berlin in 1979, it has grown into one of Germany's largest annual public events.

Saturday's incident is the latest in a series of deadly vehicle attacks in Germany.

In May this year, a man believed to have mental health issues drove into pedestrians in Leipzig, killing two people and seriously injuring three.

Last year, two people were killed in Mannheim after a man described by authorities as psychologically unwell drove into pedestrians. Weeks earlier, an Afghan national allegedly rammed a vehicle into a trade union demonstration in Munich, killing two people and injuring more than 40.

In December 2024, several people were killed when a vehicle was driven into a Christmas market in Magdeburg. The suspect, a Saudi-born psychiatrist who had lived in Germany for nearly two decades, was reported to have a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric.