What happened?
On Saturday night, around 10 p.m., a white van drove into a crowd some 100 meters (328 feet) away from a Christopher Street Day celebration near Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin. Police spokesperson Florian Nath said the van drove through the park parallel to a main road and struck a number of people before crashing into a tree. Afterward, the driver left the van and fled in an unknown direction, Nath said.
Police later confirmed the vehicle was privately owned, not a rental. It was removed from the crime scene on Sunday.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CDU) later added that a suspect is also believed to have attacked people with a blade-like weapon, possibly a machete, before fleeing.
The area around the crime scene was widely blocked off Saturday night after organizers called off the rest of the event and evacuated festivalgoers. Police searched the Tiergarten area with infrared cameras overnight, spokesperson Nath said.
