German authorities on Sunday issued a wanted notice for a fugitive suspect in a van-ramming incident near Berlin’s Pride festival that killed one person and injured at least 16 others.

Police and prosecutors appealed to the public for help in locating the 21-year-old suspect, identified as Abdul B. They said he was believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle late Saturday night, while one or more people apparently fled from the vehicle. Several people were also apparently stabbed, authorities said.

The wanted notice warned people not to have “direct contact” with the suspect, saying he could be armed and dangerous.

Police earlier said they had identified a suspect with links to Islamic groups in the German capital.

“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.

However, Nath said investigators had no information about the suspect’s “specific motives.”

Police carried out several operations across Berlin as they searched for the suspect, including a raid on an apartment in the Schöneberg district early Sunday. However, no one was found there, police said.

Julian Miethig, who had attended the Pride festival nearby, said he was planning to go to an after-party when a friend told him that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”

“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.

According to police, a white van entered the Tiergarten park at around 10 p.m. and struck several people before crashing into a tree.

At the time, the closing party of the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was underway near the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance from the park. Earlier in the day, around 80 trucks had taken part in a parade through central Berlin.

Police said a woman was killed in the incident. Berlin’s fire service said three people suffered life-threatening injuries, eight others were seriously injured and five sustained minor injuries.

The Pride event near the Brandenburg Gate was called off at around 10:15 p.m., while a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were asked to return home and avoid passing through the park.

Ricarda Hofmann, one of the presenters at the Pride event, said in an Instagram post that she had been there “not just as a moderator, but as part of a community that comes together to be visible. To celebrate love. To stand up for each other.”

She said the incident had left her speechless.

“What happened today has changed something in me,” she wrote.

Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in Berlin on Saturday to celebrate Pride, although it was unclear how many remained at the festival when the incident occurred late in the evening. The event is one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

The van, its damaged front resting against a tree, remained at the scene on Sunday morning.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the incident as “an attack on our society.”

“What an abhorrent act in Berlin,” Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom and “we will preserve and defend that.”

In neighboring Netherlands, Amsterdam is hosting World Pride this week and next alongside its annual Pride celebrations.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said authorities and organizers were “closely monitoring the security situation” following the Berlin attack.

She said security is always tight during such events and additional measures would be introduced where necessary, adding that visitors would hopefully notice them as little as possible.

“We don’t want to be scared and we want to be able to celebrate freedom and being able to be who you are and love who you want to,” she said.