48 people were injured, 18 critically, and 12 were killed after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described as a terrorist attack.
Although a suspect was arrested soon after the incident, a local newspaper is reporting that the real perpetrator is still at large.
“We have the wrong man,” an unnamed police source told Die Welt.
“This means the situation is different. The real culprit is still armed and can commit further atrocities.”
Shortly after the incident, Berlin police announced that they had arrested one person in connection with the crime, which took place at the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church on Monday night.
The person arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack was a 23-year-old Pakistani man who had applied for asylum in Germany, according to Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maizière.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday dressed in black, Ms Merkel said the crime would be punished “as severely as our laws demand.”
“We must assume at the current time that it was a terrorist attack,” Ms. Merkel said.
“I know that it would be particularly difficult for all of us to bear if it is confirmed that this deed was carried out by a person who sought protection and asylum in Germany.”
However, it has not been confirmed whether the man arrested was involved in the attack.
Berlin’s famous Christmas markets are a major festive season drawcard for locals and foreign travellers to the German capital.
TOP IMAGE: File photo of Christmas markets in Berlin, Germany (By Ron Porter, via Pixabay)
