A Pakistani asylum seeker suspected of ploughing a lorry into a Berlin Christmas market and killing 12 people was released Tuesday for lack of evidence, prosecutors said.

"The accused, detained over the attack on the Berlin Christmas market on December 19, 2016, was let go on this evening on the orders of the federal prosecutor," his office said in a statement. Authorities identified the man earlier as a Pakistani asylum seeker. 

"The forensic tests carried out so far did not provide evidence of the accused's presence during the crimes in the cab of the lorry."