Berlin holds vigil for victims after attack at Pride celebrations

One woman has been killed and dozens injured after a van was driven into crowds near Berlin’s Christopher Street Day celebrations, followed by a knife attack. Police said 29 people were hurt in the incident on Saturday night, some of them critically, when a rented white minivan struck pedestrians in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate shortly before 10pm local time.

After crashing into a tree and abandoning the vehicle, the suspect, identified as 21‑year‑old Abdul B, allegedly attacked people with what appeared to be a machete. Police confirmed on Sunday evening that the main suspect had been shot dead during an operation at an allotment garden complex in the Spandau district of the capital.

The attack took place close to one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ events, forcing organisers to halt the final stages of Berlin’s Pride festivities. Earlier in the day, hundreds of thousands had marched through the city in celebration of LGBTQ+ rights and in remembrance of the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City, which Christopher Street Day commemorates. Berlin groups had already warned that violence against LGBTQ+ people in Germany had been increasing, with gains in equality coming under pressure.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in a statement that authorities would fully investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice. Police and fire services deployed large numbers of officers and rescue units to the scene, treating the injured and appealing for witnesses and footage to support the investigation.

On Sunday evening, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in the colours of the Pride flag, alongside the slogan “Berlin, city of freedom”. Just a few hundred metres from the site of the attack, hundreds of people gathered for a candlelit vigil, many carrying rainbow flags and signs in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and those affected by the violence.

Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, shared the following sentiment: "All I can say is that Berlin, as a city of freedom and diversity, will continue to grow stronger and take a clear stance. We will not allow our way of life and our way of living together to be taken from us."

The team at myGwork expresses deep sorrow at the events in Berlin and sends heartfelt thoughts to everyone who has been harmed or bereaved.