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Police hunting the Berlin Christmas market killer made a breakthrough today amid reports that they had found DNA and an identity document linked to the terrorist.

Officers are said to be searching for a radicalised Tunisian man in his 20s after finding an ID document under the driver’s seat of the truck which ploughed into a Christmas market killing 12 people and injuring 48 more.

The man was named as Anis A who German media described as “highly dangerous” and a member of a “large” Islamic organisation. He was apparently previously arrested for GBH but not charged because he went underground. The man is also believed to use false names.

Bild newspaper claimed he is an Islamist and part of a wider network, who was already on the radar of the authorities.

There were also reports that police have found DNA from the mass assassin inside the cab. One possibility is that the terrorist was badly injured in a fight with the Polish lorry driver Lukasz Urban as he hijacked the 20 tonne truck.

German police were searching hospitals in Berlin today as a massive manhunt was launched across Europe for the armed attacker.

The details emerged as it was also claimed that Mr Urban, 37 may have fought with the terrorist hijacker in the final seconds as the truck was driven into the Christmas market on Monday evening.

Investigators say there is evidence that father-of-one Lukasz, 37, was alive and fighting to wrest back control of the lorry as it was driven into the crowds.

A post mortem is said to have found that he was shot either in the final moments before the carnage or when the lorry came to a stop, according to Bild.

Mr Urban’s badly bruised body was found in the cab. He is thought to have been shot and stabbed.

“He must have put up some fight,” the newspaper quoted a police officer as saying.

The details emerged as German police conducted a huge manhunt for the suspect behind the lorry attack.

Berlin terror attack: Horror as lorry ploughs into crowds 24 show all Berlin terror attack: Horror as lorry ploughs into crowds 1/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 2/24 A trail of devastation is left behind, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP 3/24 Debris at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Markus Schreiber/AP 4/24 Firefighters look at the debris after the trailer has been towed away from the crime scene in Berlin Markus Schreiber/AP 5/24 The damaged towing truck is towed away Matthias Schrader/AP 6/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 7/24 A damaged windscreen of a truck which ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters 8/24 The smashed window of the cabin of a truck which ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP 9/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 10/24 Rescue workers gather outside a tent in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images 11/24 An aerial view shows the extent of the damage at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Bernd von Jutrczenka/EPA 12/24 A candle and flowers are seen near the site where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 13/24 Smash: The truck that crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin. Clemens Bilan/EPA 14/24 Investigation: A German police officer looks into a truck at a Berlin Christmas market following an accident with the truck on Breitscheidplatz square Christian Mang/Reuters 15/24 Horror crash: The damaged front part of a truck is pictured at the scene after it crashed into a Christmas market, Rainer Jensen/EPA 16/24 Security: Policemen and rescue workers secure the site next to a truck at the scene, after it crashed into a Christmas market. Rainer Jensen/EPA 17/24 Mayor: Berlin's Mayor Michael Mueller (left) speaks to the media at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin, Germany. Maurizio Gambarini/EPA 18/24 Christmas: Parts of a Christmas market decoration stick in the windscreen of a truck following an accident. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 19/24 Inspection: A specialist in a protective suit talks to police near a truck at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany. Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 20/24 Wounded: An injured person is carried on an stretcher by fireman at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market Clemens Bilan/EPA 21/24 Christmas market: German police officers secure the site of an accident with a truck at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Christian Mang/Reuters 22/24 Forensic: Experts of the police investigate the crime scene after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed several people in Berlin, Germany. Michael Sohn/AP 23/24 Survivors: A survivor of an accident with a Polish truck is rescued on a stretcher near a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 24/24 Injured: Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images 1/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 2/24 A trail of devastation is left behind, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP 3/24 Debris at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Markus Schreiber/AP 4/24 Firefighters look at the debris after the trailer has been towed away from the crime scene in Berlin Markus Schreiber/AP 5/24 The damaged towing truck is towed away Matthias Schrader/AP 6/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 7/24 A damaged windscreen of a truck which ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters 8/24 The smashed window of the cabin of a truck which ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP 9/24 A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 10/24 Rescue workers gather outside a tent in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images 11/24 An aerial view shows the extent of the damage at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Bernd von Jutrczenka/EPA 12/24 A candle and flowers are seen near the site where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 13/24 Smash: The truck that crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin. Clemens Bilan/EPA 14/24 Investigation: A German police officer looks into a truck at a Berlin Christmas market following an accident with the truck on Breitscheidplatz square Christian Mang/Reuters 15/24 Horror crash: The damaged front part of a truck is pictured at the scene after it crashed into a Christmas market, Rainer Jensen/EPA 16/24 Security: Policemen and rescue workers secure the site next to a truck at the scene, after it crashed into a Christmas market. Rainer Jensen/EPA 17/24 Mayor: Berlin's Mayor Michael Mueller (left) speaks to the media at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin, Germany. Maurizio Gambarini/EPA 18/24 Christmas: Parts of a Christmas market decoration stick in the windscreen of a truck following an accident. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 19/24 Inspection: A specialist in a protective suit talks to police near a truck at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany. Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters 20/24 Wounded: An injured person is carried on an stretcher by fireman at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market Clemens Bilan/EPA 21/24 Christmas market: German police officers secure the site of an accident with a truck at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Christian Mang/Reuters 22/24 Forensic: Experts of the police investigate the crime scene after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed several people in Berlin, Germany. Michael Sohn/AP 23/24 Survivors: A survivor of an accident with a Polish truck is rescued on a stretcher near a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters 24/24 Injured: Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker Naved Baluch was arrested in the aftermath of the attack based on a description from witnesses of a suspect who jumped from the truck and fled.

Hoewever, it emerged that a man who was said to be following the suspect lost him in a near-by park.

Today, one report suggested Mr Baluch was arrested when he jumped a red light.

German police say the attacker may still be armed and at large.

Within hours of the atrocity Islamic State claimed responsibility saying for the attack saying the perpetrator was “a soldier of the Islamic State” who “carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition”.

The attack has led to heightened security in the UK with Scotland Yard announcing plans to bring forward tighter protection measures for the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace with a number of new road closures.

Police were also on duty in central London this morning carrying out checks on heavy goods lorries driving through the capital.

Today Berlin police said they had received 508 tips about Monday’s attack at the market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the west of the city - but it was not clear whether prosecutors had any concrete leads.

The man who leapt from the wrecked cab of the giant Skania lorry was said to have been masked and there are no apparent descriptions of him.

Andre Schulz, chairman of the Federal Association of German Criminal Detectives, said last night : ‘I’m fairly confident that we can present a new suspect maybe tomorrow or in the near future’, adding that his colleagues had assembled ‘good evidence’ and that there were “very many starting points.”

A key part of the investigation is focusing on the GPS and data recorder in the truck which showed attempts to start the truck in the hours behore the attack.

Police believe it possible that the mass assassin may have been trained as an HGV operator because it would, in the words of one investigator, “been very hard for someone who didn’t know what they were doing to drive an articulated truck through the streets of Berlin.”

Lukasz had parked his truck laden with 20 tonnes of steel in Moabit on Monday night ready to deliver it to a Thyssen-Krupp factory on Tuesday.

His wife last spoke to him at 3pm when he complained about having to wait to get unloaded.

In the hours afterwards the lorry’s e;ectronioc systems showed there were attempts to start the engine followed bya number of “erratic movements.” The GPS showed the engine appeared to be “choking” as it was driven prompting the company to try and contact the driver, without success.

Further details emerged about the victims of the attack today with a Italian woman thoguht to be among the 12 dead.

Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, 31, has not been heard from since the atrocity, and it is understood her phone and metro pass were found at the scene.

She is believed to have been living in the German capital and her family have reportedly flown there in the wake of the attack.

The wife of an Israeli man has also been declared missing, according to The Times of Israel which said he had been seriously injured.