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Berlin Truck-Attack Driver May Be at Large, Officials Say
| Wall Street Journal | - |
BERLIN—The
German capital was on high alert Tuesday after authorities said the
suspect they had detained in connection with a deadly truck rampage
through a Christmas market may have been the wrong man.
Berlin Truck-Attack Driver May Be at Large, Officials Say
Authorities say the suspect they detained may be the wrong man
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German authorities have a suspect in custody after the deadly
truck attack that killed at least 12 at a Berlin Christmas market on
Monday. He is believed to be a Pakistani man and, according to media
reports, arrived in Germany as a refugee. Photo: AP.
Police detained a Pakistani man Monday evening after witnesses reported seeing the driver of the truck flee the devastated market in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
The man taken into custody appeared to match the description supplied by the witnesses, though he denied having anything to do with the attack, Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt said.
By Tuesday afternoon, German officials were saying they weren’t certain they had the right man, and visitors and residents of the city were being urged by police to remain vigilant.
“The detained suspect is currently denying the deed,” the Berlin police posted on Twitter. “We’re especially alert as a result. Please do the same.”
“We are, of course, highly alarmed,” Holger Münch, head of Germany’s federal criminal police, said in a news conference. “We are investigating, of course, in all directions.”
Another cause for concern for investigators was that the original driver of the apparently stolen truck used in the attack was found shot dead in the vehicle’s passenger seat. The weapon hasn’t been recovered, officials said.
“We haven’t yet been able to confirm that this person was in fact the driver,” Mr. Kandt, the Berlin police chief, said at a news conference. Later he told reporters: “It is possible that we have a dangerous criminal here in the area.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the attack site Tuesday afternoon. She and other senior government officials urged Germans not to give in to fear.
“We don’t want to live paralyzed by fear of evil,” Ms. Merkel said.
500 feet
GERMANY
BERLIN ZOO
Approximate
route and
location of truck
BERLIN
Breitscheidplatz
Victory
Column
Brandenburg Gate
Site of
incident
Kaiser-Wilhelm
Memorial Church
CHARLOTTENBURG
In her remarks to reporters, the German leader acknowledged the pressure that was likely to come to bear on her policy of accepting refugees if, as initial reports from officials indicated, an immigrant was to blame for assault,
“I know it would be especially hard to bear for all of us if it should be confirmed that the person who committed this act sought protection and asylum in Germany,” Ms. Merkel told a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin.
“This would be especially despicable toward the many, many Germans who are daily engaged in helping refugees, and toward the many, many people who truly need this protection and strive to integrate themselves into our country.”
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said Tuesday that under questioning, the suspect in the attack had denied carrying it out. The man appeared to be from Pakistan and had entered Germany on the last day of 2015. His asylum application hadn’t been completed, Mr. de Maizière said.
Any involvement in the attack by a recent migrant to Germany in the truck attack could stoke tensions over a wave of asylum seekers and migrants from Muslim countries that has fueled nationalist sentiment and roiled politics in Germany and across Europe.
Officials have warned about the potential for an attack on a Christmas market in Germany. The markets draw millions of locals and tourists to squares in small towns and big cities alike. In November, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert warning that Islamic State and al Qaeda were planning terrorist attacks “in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.”
Earlier this month, officials said that Germany narrowly avoided a suspected Islamist attack on a Christmas market in the city of Ludwigshafen. Authorities reported that a 12-year-old German-Iraqi boy twice planted an explosive device at a Christmas market there that failed to detonate.
The vehicle-borne violence in Berlin recalled the attack at Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France, in July that claimed the lives of 86 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack.
The crash prompted an outpouring of condolences and offers of support from governments across the West.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is ‘shocked, shaken and
deeply saddened’ by the attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed
at least 12 people Monday. Ms. Merkel said that it would be
‘particularly sickening’ if it turns out the attacker was an
asylum-seeker who sought refuge in Germany. Image: AFP/Getty
President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the truck crash and other violent incidents in the region Monday on Twitter: “Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany—and it is only getting worse. The civilized world must change thinking!”
In France, President François Hollande expressed on his official Twitter account his “solidarity and compassion with Chancellor Merkel, the German people and the families of Berlin victims.” Tweeting in German, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel wrote that “a Christmas market became a place of mourning.” while European Council chief Donald Tusk, representing EU governments, wrote on Twitter that “Europe stands ready to help.”
While many German politicians urged caution and calm, some said the attack meant that the government’s immigration policy had to be reconsidered. The most influential politician taking such a position Tuesday morning was Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, the head of Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union and a governing partner of Ms. Merkel.
“We owe it to the victims, the people affected, and the whole public to rethink and readjust our entire immigration and security policy,” Mr. Seehofer said.
Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com
