Sirens and injuries in Berlinpublished at 23:15 BST
Michael Steininger
Reporting from Berlin
The Pride parade in Berlin has been called off after an incident in the city centre. Berlin police said on social media that a “major police operation” was underway on the edge of the Tiergarten park, close to the iconic Brandenburg Gate.
Sirens can be heard all over the area. Police and emergency responders are attending to a significant number of injured people, several of them with life threatening injuries.
Initial reports suggest that a car may have driven into the crowd, a police spokesperson said. He added that police were currently looking intensely for potential perpetrators involved in the incident.
Local media cite eyewitnesses who report that a white van sped into a crowd of people in the Tiergarten shortly after 22:00 local time. Organisers asked the public on social media and on screens at the event to leave the area in a calm and orderly fashion.
A screen at Brandenburg Gate said: “Evacuation.”
The annual Berlin Pride march, also referred to as Christopher Street Day, attracts hundreds of thousands of people, demonstrating for and celebrating the rights of queer communities. It is the biggest of a series of similar events all across Germany.
