Police hunt suspects after deadly car strike at Berlin Pride parade

Berlin police were hunting suspects after a vehicle struck people near the Pride route in Tiergarten, the central district where Berlin’s Christopher Street Day parade was under way. One report said at least one person was killed and at least 15 others were injured before police called off the parade hours after it had begun.

The strike disrupted one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ celebrations, known in Berlin as Christopher Street Day or CSD, an annual fixture that draws tens of thousands of people. Berlin’s official event listings and CSD Berlin both describe the parade as a recurring city event, and organizers had continued to promote the 2026 gathering as the city prepared for another large turnout.

The gathering has long carried political weight as well as spectacle. Last year, DW reported a huge turnout for the Berlin Pride march, with marchers rallying under the slogan “Never Silent Again” as concern grew over homophobia and attacks on Pride events in smaller German cities by far-right extremists. Berlin Pride in 2025 was marked by techno beats and rainbow flags, but also by an unmistakable security mood that has shadowed Pride events across Germany.

That unease is rooted in earlier violence. In September 2022, 25-year-old transgender man Malte C. died after being assaulted at a Pride event in Münster when he intervened to help women facing homophobic harassment. DW also reported alleged homophobic incidents after Berlin Pride in 2022, adding to fears that public celebrations of LGBTQ visibility can become targets.

The Berlin incident sharpened those concerns on a day meant for visibility and protest. The parade’s sudden halt in Tiergarten turned a densely packed civic celebration into an emergency scene, with police trying to secure the route and investigators working to determine who was responsible and whether the strike was deliberate or accidental.