BERLIN, GERMANY – Police are searching for a Tunisian man in his early 20s in connection with the Berlin Christmas market attack, a German security official told CNN Wednesday.
The suspect’s identity papers were found inside the cabin of the truck used in the attack, which left 12 people dead and 48 injured, the official said.
Authorities on Tuesday released another man who was arrested shortly after the truck smashed into the market, saying there was no evidence to connect him to the attack.
Police have appealed to the public for any digital videos and photos they have of the incident or possible suspects. They tweeted Tuesday that they were investigating 508 leads.
Latest developments
- Police are searching for a Tunisian man in his early 20s, security official says
- German President Joachim Gauck visits the injured at a Berlin hospital
- Police searching for suspect who deliberately drove truck into crowd
- Mourners pack a nearby church for memorial to victims
- Officials say several people could have been involved in the attack
Attacker on the loose
ISIS claimed it had inspired the attack. The terror group’s affiliated Amaq news agency described the perpetrator as a “soldier of the Islamic State,” who had acted in response to calls for attacks in the West.
German police say they are treating the attack as terrorism, but there is no evidence of a direct link with ISIS.
On Tuesday evening, police released an asylum-seeker believed to be from Pakistan who had been detained in the immediate aftermath of the attack. According to German media, witnesses had said he had been driving the truck.
But Peter Frank, general prosecutor at Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, said that forensic tests offered no link between the man and the truck’s cabin.
Original truck driver murdered
A Polish man found shot dead inside the truck has been identified as its original driver, according to German media.
He was not driving during the incident, police said. The gun used to kill him has not yet been recovered.
The truck, which was owned by a Polish company, was hauling 25 tons of steel before it was steered into the crowd, according to its owner Ariel Zurawski.
Christmas markets across the city were closed as Berliners gathered at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near the scene of the attack to pay their respects to the victims.
Thousands of people both outside and in the church listened to the service, which included a song that asked: “So what are we fighting for? What do we live for? What do we pray for? What do we die for? What do we love for?”
