Police have named 21-year-old Abdul Ballout as the suspect after a horror vehicle ramming at Berlin Pride left one woman dead and 16 people injured – a major terror manhunt continues
A huge terror manhunt is underway in Germany after a woman was killed and 16 people injured when a van was rammed into Berlin’s Pride festival.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz described last night’s attack as “an attack on our society” as national media named the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, who is alleged to have driven the vehicle at the crowd before fleeing the scene.
Several people were also stabbed. Police warned members of the public not to approach the suspect, as he may be “armed and dangerous”. Police said there was a “strong suspicion” the attack was an act of terrorism.
Here’s everything we know so far about the Berlin Pride attack:
How attack unfolded
According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park in the centre of the German capital at around 10pm local time (9pm BST) and rammed into several people, before hitting a tree.
The attack ensued during the closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, and followed a large parade through the centre of the city
Witnesses described hearing a “dull bang” followed by the sound of screaming. One told CNN: “At first, we couldn’t make out what the screams were, because of the party, the music, and the atmosphere.”
“We only realised exactly what was going on when the police cleared the park with machine guns and asked us to go home.”
Closing party evacuated
Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have attended Berlin Pride, one of Europe’s largest LGBT celebrations, on Saturday.
The closing party, which was being held at the Brandenburg Gate, was called off around 10.15pm, with organisers interrupting an onstage performance to urge people to go home and avoid taking the route through the park.
Julian Miethig, who had been at the event, said he wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there” and saw “a lot of fire engines, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.
One woman killed and three suffer ‘life-threatening injuries’
Police said one woman was killed in the attack, though she has not been named.
Berlin’s fire service said that three people sustained life-threatening injuries, another eight were seriously injured and five had minor injuries.
The van used in the attack was still at the scene this morning, with its crumpled bonnet pinned against a tree.
All we know on suspect Abdul Ballout
Police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul B, who has links to Islamist groups in the German capital.
He was further named as Abdul Ballout in the Bild newspaper this morning.
Ballout is a German citizen from a Lebanese background, and was born in Berlin in 2005. The 21-year-old was released from juvenile detention in May, according to German media.
Berlin police spokesperson Florian Nath said: “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.”
He added that investigators had no information on “his specific motives.”
Ballout is described as being of slim build, approximately 1.90 metres (6ft 3 in) tall, with black hair, and was wearing a black hoodie and white trousers at the time of the attack.
