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Police identify suspect after van plows into Berlin Pride crowd, 1 killed

cultureJul 26, 202669953

Berlin police identified a suspect with ties to Islamist circles after a white van drove into people in Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. during the city’s Pride celebrations, killing one person and injuring at least 16 others. The van hit several people before colliding with a tree, and police said some victims had life-threatening injuries. Police spokesman Florian Nath said the suspect is known to police, has not been arrested, and officers are conducting an intensive search at full speed. Authorities called off the Pride rally and a concert around 10:15 p.m., urged people to leave the area, and set up a crisis hotline for missing friends or family. Officers were interviewing witnesses and investigating reports that some victims may also have suffered stab wounds, though police said it was too early to draw conclusions from those accounts. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner called the incident "an attack on our free and cosmopolitan society" and said security authorities would investigate around the clock. More than 2,200 police had been on duty in Berlin that day to protect Pride events, and authorities asked anyone with photos or videos from the scene to share them with investigators.

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