BERLIN: German police are searching for a Tunisian man in connection with the deadly truck attack on a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, media reported Wednesday.
The man is aged 21 or 23 and known by three different names, according to reports in the daily Allgemeine Zeitung and the Bild newspaper. Both said asylum office papers believed to belong to the man were found in the cab of the truck.
Pakistani held over Berlin attack freed
Earlier, a Pakistani asylum seeker suspected of ploughing the lorry that killed 12 people was released Tuesday for lack of evidence, prosecutors said.
"The accused, detained over the attack on the Berlin Christmas market on December 19, 2016, was let go on this evening on the orders of the federal prosecutor," his office said in a statement. Authorities identified the man earlier as a Pakistani asylum seeker.
"The forensic tests carried out so far did not provide evidence of the accused's presence during the crimes in the cabin of the lorry."
As the shellshocked German capital reeled from the country's deadliest attack of recent years, doubts emerged over whether the man detained overnight actually committed the atrocity.
Twelve people were killed and almost 50 wounded, 18 seriously, when the lorry tore through the crowd Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims, in scenes reminiscent of July's deadly attack in the French Riviera city of Nice.
"It is indeed uncertain he was the driver", Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt told reporters about the Pakistani man while forensic work and questioning continued.
Berlin police tweeted that "we remain especially vigilant", urging Berliners to do the same.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was later set to visit the scene near the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, said the deadly rampage was believed to be a "terrorist" attack.
Merkel said if it was confirmed that the killer had been part of the refugee influx, this would be "particularly sickening in relation to the many, many Germans who are involved every day in helping refugees".
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere had said the top suspect was a Pakistani man who had arrived via the so-called Balkan route last New Year's Eve and was staying at a Berlin refugee shelter.
One survivor, Australian Trisha O'Neill, recalled the horror of "this huge black truck speeding through the markets crushing so many people", with "blood and bodies everywhere".
"It wasn't an accident," said another visitor, Briton Emma Rushton, who was enjoying a glass of mulled wine when the festive scene was shattered by a loud crash and screams.
"We heard a really loud bang and saw some of the Christmas lights to our left starting to be pulled down," she told Sky news.
"Then we saw the articulated vehicle going through people and through the stalls and just pulling everything down and then everything went dark."
