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A vehicle drove into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, killing one person and injuring several others. According to police and emergency officials, several people suffered life-threatening injuries.
Berlin police said the incident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. in the Tiergarten, a large park near the route of the city’s Pride parade and the Brandenburg Gate. Authorities said a white vehicle struck multiple people, triggering a major emergency response and an intensive manhunt for one or more suspects.
In statements posted on X, police said officers and Berlin Fire Department personnel were deployed in large numbers after a vehicle drove into the Tiergarten area and hit several people. Police later reported numerous injuries, and said the search for suspects was continuing at full speed.
The crash occurred during Christopher Street Day. The Associated Press reports it is one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ events. Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in the German capital for the annual celebration. Earlier festivities had proceeded peacefully before the incident brought them to an abrupt halt.
Authorities ordered participants to leave the area and canceled events associated with the parade. Police said a car had driven into the Tiergarten near the parade route and struck several people, though they initially provided few details about the circumstances.
Reuters reported that emergency services treated victims at the scene while investigators searched for suspects. Reuters also cited German tabloid Bild, which quoted a witness as saying a white vehicle drove into the crowd at high speed and that a man fled on foot after exiting the vehicle. Police had not publicly confirmed those witness-account details.
As of late Saturday, authorities had not announced a motive or reported any arrests. The investigation remained ongoing.
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