Berlin market attack: Hunt for 'one or more' perpetrators
Germany's interior minister says "no one will rest" until they find who was responsible for the deadly assault.
Wednesday 21 December 2016 10:27, UK
Police are hunting the driver of the lorry that drove into a Christmas market in Berlin as Germany's interior minister said "no one" would rest until the suspect is caught.
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Thomas De Maiziere said several lines of inquiry were being pursued in the hunt to find whoever was responsible for the deaths of 12 people and injuring dozens more.
"No one will rest until the perpetrator or perpetrators have been caught," Mr De Maiziere told ARD public television.
It comes after the sole suspect - a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker - was released due to lack of evidence.
He had been picked up near the popular market, next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, after police had been given a description by witnesses.
Following the suspect's release, Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt told ARD "one or more" perpetrators were believed to be on the run and possibly armed.
Witnesses saw only one man flee from the truck after it hurtled through the market for 60 to 80m (200 to 260ft) before coming to a stop in Breitscheidplatz.
A Polish man who had been driving the lorry before it was apparently hijacked was found dead in the cab. He had been apparently stabbed and shot with a pistol, which is also still missing.
In addition to the Polish truck driver, who has been named as Lukasz Urban, 37, six of the people killed were German.
Of the other five who died, one of the victims is .
Twenty-four injured remain in hospital, 14 of whom are in critical condition. Israel and Spain have also said their nationals were among those injured.
Islamic State claimed it was behind the attack.
Its news agency Amaq said one of its "soldiers" had carried out Monday evening's deadly crash.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that while the attack "bears the hallmarks of previous terror attacks", officials did not have enough information to back up the claim.
Several German policemen were seen late on Tuesday searching a location in Berlin where the lorry had apparently been parked before the attack.
Officers used floodlights to comb the bank of a canal next to Friedrichkraussufer street.
The spot, in an industrial area, was apparently provided to the police by the company that owned the truck.
German newspaper Die Welt said Mr Urban had loaded steel beams on to his trailer in Turin, before setting off for Berlin.
The boss of the firm that owns the lorry said the driver - his cousin - reported arriving a day too early and being sent away.
Investigators have been able to examine the route of the lorry just before the attack and found the driver did not take the shortest route to Breitscheidplatz.
He travelled through Berlin for about half an hour - twice as long as necessary.
GPS data found several apparent attempts to move the lorry in the afternoon, with the truck leaving at 7.34pm local time, reaching the market just after 8pm.
Investigators believe that the perpetrator was an untrained truck driver and took the time to test the vehicle before the attack, Die Welt said.
An investigator told the newspaper the terrorist drew a knife and stabbed the driver several times, possibly because the Pole grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to protect human life.
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