German police are hunting a Tunisian man over the Berlin market attack after finding an identity document in the lorry, according to reports.

The document was found under the driver's seat of the vehicle that ploughed into crowds at the Christmas market on Monday evening, killing 12 people.

Der Spiegel and Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the document, apparently asylum office papers announcing a stay of deportation, was in the name of Anis A, born in 1992 in Tataouine, Tunisia.

Image: Authorities have said Anis A should be considered armed and dangerous

The suspect was also known to have two aliases, according to the newspapers.

Bild said Anis Amri was known to police for bodily harm and is considered dangerous.


Ralf Jaeger, interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, said the suspect - who arrived in Germany in July 2015 - had been in contact with the network of a leading Islamist ideologist known as Abu Walaa.

Image: The suspect was reportedly already known to police for bodily harm

He told a news conference that "security agencies exchanged information about this person in the joint counter-terrorism centre, the last time in November".

Mr Jaeger said that state police had launched proceedings against the man on suspicion that he was preparing a serious crime. The suspect, who went by a number of names, had an asylum application rejected.

Authorities have said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Lorry killer on the run as Berlin mourns

German media has said a police operation is under way in the North Rhine-Westphalia state as the manhunt continues.

A migrant shelter in Emmerich, near the border with the Netherlands, is also being searched, according to the Rheinische Post.

Die Welt said the identity documents were issued in Kleve, and the suspect - who had applied for asylum - had an address in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia.

The changing tactics of terrorism

He had been charged with assault in the summer, but failed to appear in court, the newspaper reported.

A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker arrested near the market was released on Tuesday due to lack of evidence.

Berlin police say they have received 508 tips over the attack.

It comes after reports that a Polish man, whose lorry was hijacked before being used to wreak havoc, was beaten and stabbed and is thought to have only been shot dead after the attack.

Image: Lukasz Urban is thought to have fought with the suspect before he was killed

The body of Lukasz Urban, 37, was found in the cab of the lorry in Breischeidplatz after it smashed through the market for up to 80m (260ft).

Six of those killed in the attack were German. Of the other five, one is thought to be an Italian woman.

Twenty-four people injured in the attack remain in hospital, 14 in a critical condition.

Islamic State has claimed it was behind the attack. The group's news agency Amaq said one of its "soldiers" had carried out the deadly crash.

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