German authorities have named Tunisian man Anis Amri as their prime suspect after a truck ploughed into a Christmas market on Monday, killing 12 people, Reuters has reported.
In a statement, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office confirmed its search for 24-year-old Amri. Authorities have offered a €100,000 (£842,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.
"Anis AMRI is 178cm tall and weighs about 75kg, has black hair and brown eyes," the office said in the statement, according to Reuters. "Beware: He could be violent and armed!"
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said earlier on Wednesday that German police are collaborating with authorities in Europe's Schengen states to hunt down Amri. He did warn, however, that Amri may not be the driver behind the attack.
The search turned to the Tunisian after an ID document was found under the drivers' seat in the 40-tonne lorry behind Monday night's atrocity.
Daily newspaper Bild reported that Amri was known to the police as a possibly dangerous individual and part of a large Islamist extremist network.
Reuters said German police searched a home for migrants around Emmerich, a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on Wednesday. This is where Amri's permit was issued.
At a press conference in Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger said the suspect was known to German security agencies, Reuters reported. Amri applied for asylum in Germany and his application was rejected in July. Attempts to deport him to Tunisia failed as he did not have identification papers.
Another suspect, a Pakistani asylum seeker who was known to the German police, was released Tuesday because of a lack of evidence, and residents have been urged to remain on guard.
ISIS on Tuesday afternoon claimed credit for the attack, supporting what German and US officials had presumed was an act of terrorism. The group's Amaq news agency declared the perpetrator to be an ISIS soldier who "executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries."
The truck ran into the market outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the Charlottenburg neighbourhood of Berlin at about 8 p.m. local time on Monday. It ploughed through stalls and tables and travelled 50 to 80 metres (164 to 262 ft), according to the Berliner Morgenpost.
A Polish man, named as Lukasz Urban, was found dead in the passenger side of the truck. Germany's Interior Minister, de Maizière, confirmed that the man was shot with a shotgun but said the weapon had not been recovered. The man was identified by a cousin who owned the truck company where the man had been a driver.
Amid fears that those responsible for the attacks are migrants, Berliners and refugees gathered to sing "We Are The World" in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The gathering was a mark of respect for those who died in Monday's attack.
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