Massive manhunt for armed truck terrorist amid fears of MORE attacks as ISIS claims responsibility and bungling cops release man wrongly arrested over massacre
In a stunning reversal, police chiefs have admitted an innocent 23-year-old Pakistani refugee was wrongly detained following the attack
GERMANY has tonight launched a massive manhunt for the Berlin truck attacker after bungling cops released a man wrongly accused of the atrocity.
In a stunning reversal, police chiefs have admitted an innocent 23-year-old Pakistani refugee was wrongly detained in the minutes following the attack.
They believe the real terrorist is now at large - and say there is a "significant" threat of being hit by another deadly atrocity.
It means authorities are now locked in a terrifying race against time after almost 24 hours of their initial investigation was blown on a false lead.
The journalist who first reported doubts regarding the culpability of the refugee arrested claims cops have "no idea who they're looking for", it was reported.
Michael Behrendt said: "They have no weapon, no DNA traces. Until they have any concrete information, it’s still completely unclear what they’re dealing with."
Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt said: "There are just so many possibilities to kill people with a heavy goods vehicle."
"It would not be possible to turn all Christmas markets into fortresses," he added.
It comes as the man originally arrested - a 23-year-old Pakistani man named only as Navid B - was tonight released from police custody as it was believed he is entirely innocent.
Doubts were raised over his supposed role in the attack when he was found with no blood or gun residue on his clothes and denied any knowledge of the attack.
It was previously reported the refugee initially arrested was recently radicalised in Germany.
Police reportedly claimed he may have been ordered by an ISIS chief in the Middle East to carry out the attack. He has since been released.
Meanwhile, ISIS has gleefully declared the Berlin truck attacker a "soldier of the Islamic State" in a sickening message claiming responsibility for yesterday's atrocity.
The short message was distributed by its propaganda wing, Amaq News Agency, and claimed he responded to its call to launch truck attacks against the West.
The jihadis' statement read: "The executor of the operation in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic State and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries."
The atrocity last night has left 12 dead and 48 injured - 14 of whom remain in a serious condition.
Among those police fear may have been killed is Fabrizia Lorenzo, a 31-year-old Italian who is missing but whose phone and wallet were found at the scene.
As a sombre Angela Merkel visited the scene of terror this afternoon a senior police chief admitted: "We have the wrong man."
Firebrand members of her Christian Democratic Union party Klaus Bouillon raged Germany is in a "state of war".
Earlier, top security sources told newspaper Die Welt: "We have a new situation. The true perpetrator is still armed, at large and can cause further damage."
Refugee Navid B had been pursued by a have-a-go-hero following the attack.
But today Federal Criminal Office chief Holger Munch said authorities were "highly alarmed" at the prospect of the real killer being on the loose.
He admitted the gunman's weapon had not been found and that there was a "significant" risk of another attack - with the possibility there could have been more than one plotter.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel laid flowers at the scene this afternoon alongside Berlin mayor Michael Mueller and Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
One witness claims the terrorist was masked when he ploughed a hijacked truck loaded with 25 tonnes of steel into a Berlin Christmas market at around 7pm.
Police believe the attack - which bore haunting similarities to July's Nice atrocity - may have been ordered by an ISIS handler in the Middle East.
The Foreign Office confirmed no Brits had been injured during the attack.
Festive shoppers were feasting on mulled wine and bratwurst when the HGV smashed through the wooden stalls.
The lorry's Polish driver Lukasz Urban, 37, was shot dead in the passenger seat.
His cousin Ariel Zurawski, who identified Urban, said: "His face was swollen and bloodied. It was really clear that he was fighting for his life."
Merkel accepted the rampage was a terror attack as she addressed the nation this morning.
She said she had been "shocked, shaken and deeply saddened by the massacre".
Germany's premier is likely to face intense criticism following her open-door immigration policy that has seen more than a million refugees flood into Germany over the past two years.
Among the first to lay blame at Merkel's door was Ukip leader Nigel Farage.
He tweeted: "Terrible news from Berlin but no surprise. Events like these will be the Merkel legacy."
She has previously hinted that her open-door policy is proving unsuccessful.
In September she admitted: "If I knew what change in refugee policy the people in Germany want, I would be prepared to consider it."
Last night's burst of horrifying violence was another chilling reminder of the threats that face Europe.
The killer's vehicle mounted the pavement before crashing into a crowd of shoppers, tearing through stalls before coming to a stop after a deadly 150ft rampage outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the city’s centre.
An emotional Angela Merkel is "in mourning" over the horrific scenes in her country's capital just days before Christmas. She confirmed the incident was a "terrorist attack".
A Polish man found in the passenger seat of the hijacked cab had been shot dead, Germany's Interior Minister confirmed this morning.
Petrified crowds were seen running for cover when the suspected terrorist took control of the 25-tonne truck and ploughed it into the Breitscheidplatz Christmas markets at around 7pm, leaving a bloody trail in its wake.
Witnesses described victims being thrown aside like skittles.
Police are treating the rampage as a terror attack, saying they believed the truck was "intentionally" driven into the festive stalls.
Its lights were turned off when it smashed into the wooden huts selling wine, sausages, sweets and toys - and the people milling about near them.
Authorities this morning began the grisly task of clearing the scene of an atrocity that has shocked a Germany gearing up for the festive season.
Brits caught up in the terror described horrific scenes of bodies strewn among debris as the lorry "deliberately" plunged into festive shoppers in an attack which had chilling echoes of the terror attack in Nice, France, in July where 86 people were killed.
Rhys Meredith, of Cardiff, was visiting the market with his girlfriend when the lorry tore by.
He told the BBC: "We had bought food and had we carried on we would have walked down the path the truck would have been down and we more than likely wouldn't be having this conversation right now.
"It missed us by about ten feet before veering into the middle of the road, taking out stalls.
"There was clearly no attempt to try and slow down.
"We've seen stalls obliterated into nothing"
One eyewitness told the Berliner Morgenpost he heard a "loud popping" followed by "hysterical screams".
One witness told the : "He just drove onto the square from the Kant street. That had to have been intentional, because his lights were not switched on. And then I just heard this loud bang and hysterical screaming."
reported that a man saw the driver responsible for the attack clamber out of the truck, with the witness running after him at a safe distance.
Following the suspect, he quickly rang emergency services to tell them where the man - now found to be innocent - was, with authorities able to arrest him soon after.
Police said the lorry was stolen from a building site in Poland with it now being forensically examined by authorities.
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German special forces have since stormed a hangar at Berlin's defunct Tempelhof airport, which now houses refugee accommodation.
A unit of the elite SEK armed police headed into the hangar just hours after the attack with reports that the man responsible for the attack had been living there.
German government prosecutors have now taken over the investigation.
Several of the injured were reported to be in a critical condition after being trapped underneath the lorry, and 48 were taken to hospital.
Casualties were being treated at the scene with dozens stretchered away, while others were treated on the ground unable to be moved.
Investigators have appealed for any pictures and videos of the scene to help with their investigations.
Horrifying pictures showed wounded people being treated at the scene and debris from the attack strewn across the road.
A number of casualties interviewed by German media are also believed to have been refugees.
German intelligence services had reportedly been warning city authorities for the past week of a possible attack on a Christmas market.
The heartbreaking story of the lorry's driver emerged last night as his wife told how she had not heard from her husband since 4pm yesterday.
The employee's cousin Ariel Zurawski, who owns the haulage company, also told the channel he believed he had been kidnapped.
He said: “We haven’t heard from him since this afternoon. We don’t know what happened to him.
“He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him. They must have done something to my driver."
German President Joachim Gauck said: "It's a terrible evening for Berlin and for our country, that upsets me as it does many others.
"Although we still don't know much about the causes of this awful event at the Berlin Christmas market, I am thinking of the victims, of their loved ones, and of anyone who fears for their relatives or friends."
The mayor of Berlin Michael Muller told his thoughts were with the families of the dead and injured.
Christian Schmidt, Minister of Food and Agriculture, condemned the "abominable attack".
He said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the dead, their loved ones, and the injured.
"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and consideration.
"One thing is clear to me: we also need a spirit of determination. No hesitation in the governmental fight against terrorism; instead, decisive action.
Berlin's interior senator Andreas Geisel told German news: "This is a horrific event. But it won't change the way we live life here in Berlin."
Donald Trump, US president-elect, condemned the attack, tweeting: "Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany - and it is only getting worse. The civilized world must change thinking!"
The White House released a statement condemning "what appears to be a terrorist attack".
"We send our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed, just as we wish a speedy recovery to all of those wounded," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.
"We also extend our heartfelt condolences to the people and Government of Germany."
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also took to Twitter to share his horror at the incident.
"My thoughts & condolences are w/ the people of #Germany following tonight's terrible tragedy in #Berlin, leaving so many dead & injured," he said.
A crying woman was heard shouting "an idiot drove into the crowd!" reports Das Bild.
"I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos...many injured people,'" Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor in chief of Berliner Morgenpost, told CNN. "It was really traumatic."
The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, located in the square, simply posted The Lord's Prayer on its Facebook page in response to the attack.
Mike Fox, a tourist from Birmingham, told the the truck missed him by about three metres as it drove into the market.
"It was definitely deliberate," he added.
Mr Fox said he helped people who appeared to have broken limbs, and said others were trapped underneath stalls.
"We were in the market, outside the cathedral and we had just had mulled wine then as we were leaving the large truck came through," he said.
"It went just past me, past my girlfriend. I think it missed me by three metres, missed her by five. It came in through the entrance, hit the sides of the barriers and then carried on past us."
Richard Clarkson, from Brighton, told the he was at a bar with his friends on the street near were the incident happened.
One of his friends heard a bang. He said: “I just walked out and I saw the truck, the windscreen was broken, I didn’t see any bodies they were very quick to cover them up I think.”
“The word terrorist is being thrown around a lot at the moment and people seem scared.”
French president Francois Hollande released a statement expressing his "solidarity and compassion to Chancellor Merkel, the German people and the families of victims of Berlin."
The attack is believed to be a copycat of the Nice attack in which 86 people were killed after a lorry ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day.
The driver drove for over a mile through crowds on the Promenade des Anglais in the French city before being shot by police.
President Hollande said the attack was of "an undeniable terrorist nature".
Those caught up in the attacks shared pictures on social media in the immediate aftermath.
Tourist Emma Rushton, from England, tweeted from the scene: "Lorry just ploughed through Christmas market in #berlin. People crushed. I am safe. I am safe."
It comes weeks after ISIS threatened massacres at Christmas markets and events.
Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, issued a statement in reaction to the attack and incidents in Zurich, Switzerland, and Ankara, Turkey.
She said: “Our thoughts are with all those killed and injured in the horrific incident in Berlin, and with their families. We stand united in sorrow and solidarity with all the people of Germany, as well as with all those affected by today’s attacks in Switzerland and Turkey.
“Christmas is above all a time for peace and togetherness, and if what we have seen in Berlin and elsewhere today are shown to be deliberate, terrorist attacks, let us remember that our peace and togetherness are exactly what these evil individuals are trying to destroy, and that we must never let them succeed in that aim.
“Let us prove instead that - by people of all nations, creeds and colours standing strong together - we can defeat all those who simply want to sow war, division and hate.”
The attack happened just hours after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in an art gallery in Ankara.
And three people were shot and injured at an Islamic prayer centre in Zurich, Switzerland, this afternoon.
The US State Department revealed it had “credible information” that Islamic State and other Islamist terror groups were plotting massacres across Europe in the lead-up to Christmas.
The attack comes just days after organisers of a festive market in Birmingham installed concrete barriers over fears of a terror attack.
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