Police release man arrested in connection to Berlin attack

The decision was made because of the lack of evidence.

(Image credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 20 December 2016

Police have released the man they detained Monday in connection to the attack on the Berlin Christmas market due to "insufficient evidence," prosecutors said Tuesday. "The investigations thus far have not produced urgent suspicion against the suspect," the police statement said.

The announcement followed reports that the man police had arrested may not have been responsible for the attack, in which an individual intentionally plowed an 18-wheeler truck into a crowded Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring more than 50. The man, a Pakistani asylum-seeker, had denied his involvement in the incident, and police had not been able to confirm the 23-year-old was actually driving the truck.

Authorities have suggested one or maybe multiple suspects could still be on the loose. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday morning that the government "must assume at the current time that it was a terrorist attack."