Anis Amri, the suspect behind the Berlin truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market last week, appears to have travelled through France as he fled to Italy, French investigators have said, reports Deutsche Welle.
The 24-year-old Tunisian was caught on CCTV cameras travelling alone on December 22nd in the Lyon Part-Dieu rail station, sources close to the investigation told news agencies, confirming media reports.
"A man corresponding to the killer was spotted on the afternoon of Thursday, December 22nd, on a platform at the [Lyon-Part-Dieu] station wearing a cap and backpack," one source close to the investigation told news agency AFP. "He appears alone in these images."
Officials believe he purchased a ticket for Chambéry, France while at the Lyon station, a judicial source told Reuters news agency. Chambéry is located between Lyon and the Italian border.
Amri was killed one day later in Milan, Italy, after he shot a policeman who asked for his identification papers.
Prior to confirmation from investigators, French broadcaster BFMTV and other media reported on the findings, saying Amri made a detour from Germany into France following the attack.
French investigators are still working to determine how Amri was able to escape from the German capital to reach France and then Italy. German authorities, meanwhile, are probing whether Amri had help before or after the attack.
German authorities had previously investigated Amri for possible ties to terrorism and had been seeking to deport the rejected asylum-seeker.
Amri was the focus of a four-day, Europe-wide manhunt is suspected of hijacking a truck and driving it into a crowded Berlin Christmas market last Monday. The attack killed 12 people and wounded 48 more.
The militant Islamic State group (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a video on Friday in which Amri is shown pledging allegiance to IS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.