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Police investigating the Berlin lorry attack say a man they arrested was not the driver, and the real killer is armed and still at large, according to a report.

German publication Welt quoted officers as saying: "We have the wrong man. The real culprit is still armed, at large and can cause new damage."

It said police looking into the deadly Christmas market crash had not found the blood of a dead Polish truck passenger on the suspect.

The gun used to shoot the victim, who was the original driver and whose body was discovered in the cab, has not been recovered.

German authorities have not confirmed the Welt report but have said the arrested man may not be the driver.

The suspect is a Pakistani asylum seeker, reportedly named Naved B, who arrived in Germany in December last year.

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He was staying at a refugee centre in Berlin and was detained near the scene of the crash in Breitscheidplatz after 12 people were killed on Monday evening.

But officials suggested, after the suspect had denied any involvement, that the perpetrator could still be on the loose.

Berlin's police chief, Klaus Kandt, said: "It is the case that we may have a dangerous criminal in the area and that of course makes the public nervous.

"Of course we are boosting security measures. Heightened vigilance is also needed right now. 

"We have to think that the person who was arrested yesterday, a man of Pakistani nationality, we have to be open to the idea that he could possibly not have been the attacker."

Federal public prosecutor Peter Frank added: "For now we don't know whether there was one attacker or several attackers."

Six of the dead from the attack have been confirmed as Germans while work goes on to identify the others.

Forty-eight people were also injured in the attack, 18 of them are in a serious condition.

Witnesses described the truck ploughing through wooden huts serving hot wine and food, sending people flying.

The owner of the company which operated the truck said Lukasz Urban, 37 - who was also his cousin - had been found stabbed and shot in the passenger seat.

He said he identified him from police photos. "His face was swollen and bloodied. It was really clear that he was fighting for his life," Ariel Zurawski told Polish broadcaster TVN.

Mr Zurawski said the lorry had gone to Berlin loaded with steel beams and that it must have been hijacked.

He described Mr Urban as a "good, quiet and honest person". 

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GPS data found several apparent attempts to move the lorry in the afternoon before the attack, Mr Zurawski told TVN.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who laid white roses at the scene on Tuesday afternoon, said she was "shocked, shaken and deeply saddened" by the attack - one of a number in Germany this year.

Under her leadership the country has pursued a liberal policy on welcoming asylum seekers.

Security at 10 markets in Manchester has been increased after events in the German capital, and police in London are also reviewing arrangements for Christmas and New Year events.

It comes five months after 86 people died in Nice when a truck mowed people down on the French city's seafront. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

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