Ansbach explosion: attacker was Syrian asylum seeker, says German official – latest

[superbeets]

Suspected Syrian suicide bomber, 27, dies in blast at wine bar in southern Germany, injuring 12 and causing mass evacuation of music festival - which was the intended target

A suspected suicide attacker has died and at least 12 people have been injured - three seriously - in an explosion near a music festival in southern Germany. The explosive device was detonated at around 10pm local time as the man carried it through a busy area in Ansbach, Bavaria, where the open air event, full of some 2,500 revellers, was taking place. The suspected attacker is thought to have been turned away from the festival - which reports suggest may have been the intended target. The incident comes as Germany remains on high alert in the wake of three other violent attacks across the country in just one week. Video footage which has emerged from the scene shows scores of people fleeing the area as heavily armed police cordoned off the city centre.

 

[superbeets]

The suicide bomber who injured 12 people when he blew himself up at a German music festival was a Syrian man who was denied asylum in the country, officials have revealed.
The 27-year-old bomber is said to have detonated the explosive device near a music festival in Ansbach, near Nuremberg.
He is thought to have been turned away from the open-air event filled with 2,500 people, which may have been his intended target.
The blast tore through the busy area at around 10pm local time on Sunday. It comes as Germany remains on high alert in the wake of three other violent attacks across the country in just one week

 

[superbeets]

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+18


Video footage which has emerged from the scene this evening shows scores of people fleeing the area as heavily armed police cordoned off the city centre

+18


As security was stepped up in the wake of recent terror attacks, heavily armed police stood guard at the scene

Left, Senior emergency doctor Peter Seyerlein and right, Mayor of Ansbach Carda Seide, who both addressed a press conference following the explosion

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+18




The man killed by an explosion at a bar in the southern German city of Ansbach was the one who set off the blast, local police said

 

[superbeets]

Ansbach mayor Carda Seidel said the blast was intentional and caused by an explosive device - not an accidental gas explosion as earlier reports suggested.
Police said that 'a man, according to our current knowledge the perpetrator, died' in the blast.
A spokesman for the Bavarian Interior Ministry added: 'At present we assume it is not an accident.'

+18


Hundreds of members of the public were evacuated from the area following the explosion

+18


Emergency services have the city on lockdown as this now become the fourth violent incident in the country in just one week

+18


A major police operation is now underway at the scene of the blast, with heavily armed officers standing guard

+18


Officers have cordoned off the centre of the Bavarian city following the blast - in which the suspected attacker is thought to have been killed

The explosion near a restaurant killed the suspected attacker and injured several others in the German city of Ansbach, near Nuremberg

+18


The town's mayor has now said the blast was caused by an explosive device, and was not an accidental gas explosion as earlier reports suggested

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+18


A policeman with a machine gun stands guard near the scene of the attack which has left around a dozen injured and one dead

 

[superbeets]

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+18



The explosion took place in the city of Ansbach, Germany - close to a busy music festival

 

[superbeets]

[FONT=&quot]15m ago03:26[/FONT]
[h=2]Contents of bomb could have killed many more - minister[/h][FONT=&quot]The contents of the backpack could have killed many more people, Hermann said.
The material used to make the bomb came from metal items used in “wood manufacturing”, Janek reports Hermann as saying.
Hermann did not specify whether these were nails or screws or some other item.
[/FONT]

 

[superbeets]

[FONT=&quot]19m ago03:23[/FONT]
[h=2]Suspect 'had abused our protection' - Bavarian interior minister[/h][FONT=&quot]Here’s more from the press conference via Janek ...
Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann, a member of Bavaria’s conservative CSU party, said:

It is terrible that someone abuses the opportunity to find protection here in such a way. I am appalled by that.
We have to do all we can so that such violence in our country committed by asylum seekers who have come to our country will not spread any further.

​

[/FONT]

 

[superbeets]

[FONT=&quot]32m ago03:10[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hermann has said that the dead man was denied asylum but was allowed to remain in Germany because of the “situation in Syria”.
[/FONT]

 

[superbeets]

[FONT=&quot]7m ago03:37[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]According to Herrmann the suspect – who lived in Ansbach – had intended to disrupt the music festival, but failed to get into the event.



The minister confirmed that some of the wounded people had suffered serious injury. Earlier reports said three people had been seriously injured but Herrmann did not specify the exact number.
He also said that there were 200 police officers taking part in the operation in Ansbach alongside 350 rescue workers and firefighters.
[/FONT]

 

[ScottL]

Thanks for the coverage SB.


Angela, fantastic job.