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The lorry ploughed through the market, destroying Christmas trees and stalls
The German authorities say they cannot be sure if a man in custody was behind Monday’s lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.
“We have to entertain the theory that the detainee might possibly not have been the perpetrator,” federal prosecutor Peter Frank told reporters.
The style of attack and the target suggested Islamic extremism, he said.
The man detained, who has denied involvement, arrived in Germany from Pakistan at the end of last year.
He was captured in a park after reportedly fleeing the scene.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who laid flowers at the scene of the attack on Tuesday, vowed to punish those responsible “as harshly as the law requires”.
Her open-door policy on migration, which saw 890,000 asylum seekers arrive in Germany last year, has divided the country, with critics calling it a security threat.
Around 20:14 local time (19:14 GMT), the lorry ploughed through the popular market at Breitscheidplatz, near west Berlin’s main shopping street, the Kurfuerstendamm. Along with the dead, 48 people were injured.
What do we know about the suspect?
German media have identified him as Naved B, 23, who was reportedly known to police for minor crimes, but not terrorist links.
He arrived in Germany on 31 December of last year and his asylum application was still in progress.
The asylum shelter at Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport was raided
He was seized near the Victory Column monument, 2km (1.2 miles) from the lorry attack scene. A bystander had been tracking the driver of the lorry after seeing him jump out of the cabin, and had led police to the suspect.
Special forces on Tuesday stormed a hangar at Berlin’s defunct Tempelhof airport, where they believed he had been living in a shelter with other migrants.
Police are examining a mobile phone they seized during the search there.
Who was the first known victim?
The usual driver of the lorry, Polish citizen Lukasz Urban, was found dead on the passenger seat of the lorry, reportedly with gunshot and stab wounds to his body. No gun was recovered.
BBC