BerlinAP —
One person was killed and at least 16 injured when a van plowed into people gathered at a famous LGBTQ+ event in Berlin on Saturday, prompting police to call off a celebration and concert in the German capital hours after it began.
Police said some of the victims had serious, life-threatening injuries. In a post on X, police urged everyone to leave the venue immediately while ambulances and firefighters worked to assist the victims.
Police said a white van entered Tiergarten Park, adjacent to the route taken earlier by the Pride march, hitting several people before crashing into a tree. Police could not say how many officers were sent to the scene, but said: “There was definitely a large number of officers.”
“We are conducting an intensive search for the suspected suspect,” police officer Florian Nass said in a short video published on the Berlin police’s X account.
Police spokesman Alexander Klute later told The Associated Press: “At this point we don’t know anything about a possible motive or the identity of the perpetrator or anything like that.”
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock: “Following a peaceful and lively Pride parade, a rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal way.”
“This is an attack on our free and international community,” Wegner said, adding that his thoughts were with the victims, their families and friends. “I have confidence in the police and security services who are working around the clock on this investigation.”
Hundreds of thousands of people were in Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the city’s Pride Parade, known as Christopher Street Day in Germany. This is one of the largest LGBTQ+ festivals in Europe.
The Pride event, held in front of the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate in downtown near the Tiergarten, was canceled around 10:15 p.m., and the band’s performance on stage was suspended. People were urged to go home and avoid routes through the park.
Before the incident, people had peacefully celebrated, marching for hours through the city, dancing to loud music and cheering on the approximately 80 floats that took part in the parade.
Julian Miettich, who had previously attended an LGBTQ+ party at the Brandenburg Gate, said he wanted to go to the afterparty after hearing from a friend that “something bad happened there and there were a lot of fire trucks, emergency vehicles and ambulances.”
He went to Tiergarten and said he was shocked that something like this could happen at a Pride celebration in Berlin.
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
