He Tunisian, who is suspected of ramming into the crowd in a truck at the Christmas fair, tried but failed to obtain an asylum in Germany, reports BBC.

The suspect filed a request for asylum in April to North Reyn- Westphalia Länder authorities. According to the Interior Minister of the region Ralf Jäger, his application was rejected in June.

The suspect should have been deported from the country, in case the governmental officials had received the documents necessary for the registration of the deportation procedures from Tunis at that time. The documents arrived only recently.

As Jäger informs, the suspect before submitting his application, in February 2016, moved to Berlin and was basically living there. In addition, since  January he has been included into the list of suspects having connections with extremist groups.