A man arrested following the deadly truck ramming attack on a Berlin Christmas market was not the perpetrator of the attack while the real attacker is still at large, local media on Tuesday.
"We have the wrong man… The real perpetrator is still armed, at large and can cause new damages," a source in Berlin police told Die Welt media outlet.
"The investigation is ongoing, it is necessary to check DNA traces, carry out other investigatory actions. I am presently not sure that the detainee is the perpetrator," Kandt told a press conference.
The suspect in the deadly truck-ramming on a crowd in Berlin denies his role in the crime, police in the German capital said Tuesday following reports that the criminal may be at large.
"The arrested suspect currently denies [involvement in] the #Breitscheidplatz. We are therefore particularly vigilant," the police said via Twitter, advising the public to do the same.
The disclosure follows the German press quoting a police source as saying "we have the wrong man," adding that the real perpetrator could be armed and still at large.
"The investigation continues, video recordings are being checked. We do not know whether it is a matter of a single criminal or whether there were several of them, we do not know if he or she had accomplices," German Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank told reporters. "We probably have to admit that the Pakistani national detained yesterday is most likely not a criminal and is not related to the criminal group," he added
On Monday, a truck rammed into the crowd at the Berlin Christmas market on the Breitscheidplatz square, killing 12 people and injuring 48 more. The country's Interior Ministry has labeled the incident a terrorist attack.
