A car plowed through a park during Berlin’s biggest L.G.B.T.Q. Pride event late Saturday local time, killing at least one person and injuring 29 others, the authorities said.
Here’s what to know.
What happened in the attack?
The violence occurred in the Tiergarten, a large central park in Berlin where large crowds had gathered to celebrate the annual L.G.B.T.Q. Pride festival, also known as Christopher Street Day, that is among the biggest such events in Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of people were in Berlin celebrating the festival, and many had gathered in the park, dancing to music and watching the parade. Around 10 p.m., a white minivan sped down a side street leading out of the park. The vehicle was eventually found abandoned where it had crashed into a tree. Officials said Sunday the attacker had also wielded what appeared to be a machete.
Who are the victims?
One woman was killed and 29 others were injured, many of them critically, the police said. Some victims suffered stab wounds, the police added. The victim has not been publicly identified.
Who is the suspect?
The German police said on Sunday that they were searching for a 21-year-old man named Abdul B. in connection with the attack. The police released a photo of the suspect, but did not release his full name because of German privacy laws.
Government officials said Sunday afternoon that the crime was most likely an Islamist terrorist attack. Abdul B. was already known to law enforcement and active in local Islamist groups, the police said.
As of Sunday afternoon, a sweeping manhunt was underway for the suspect, who was said to have lived in an apartment not far from the Tiergarten with his mother.
What have German officials said?
The attack put an abrupt end to Christopher Street Day, a raucous festival that earlier Saturday had been the scene of dancing, celebrations and music. Officials canceled the rest of the program, which had been scheduled to continue on Sunday.
“This is an attack on our society,” Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, wrote on the social media platform X. “The crime will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
Kai Wegner, Berlin’s mayor, said in a news release that “after a peaceful and vibrant Christopher Street Day, the gathering for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was brutally attacked. Berlin is the city of freedom — and our freedom has been horribly attacked today.”
Almost immediately, the attack reignited a debate in Germany about migration, religious extremism and public safety. It came months before Berlin and two other eastern states are set to hold closely watched regional elections, where polls already have suggested far-right parties are poised to make gains, partly on the basis of Germans’ anxieties over public violence.
The post What to Know About the Fatal Attack Near a Pride Celebration appeared first on New York Times.
