Berlin
Reuters
–
The Oktoberfest Fairgrounds were closed for several hours Wednesday as police conducted a security sweep of the famous Beer Festival due to a bomb threat from suspects linked to an explosion across a town in northern Munich.
Police in Bavaria, a state in Munich, said the suspect was believed to be a 57-year-old German citizen and committed suicide near a lake in northern Munich, according to preliminary investigations.
The Oktoberfest site has been reopened after police determined that a bomb threat linked to the suspect was “unconfirmed,” Munich police said on X platform.
The suspect, who lived in the town of Sternburg, south of the city, carried a backpack containing an explosive device, said earlier, according to a statement from Bavarian State Police.
City police said the predawn explosion in northern Munich was a deliberately burning residential building and appeared to be linked to a domestic conflict.
Bavarian Home Affairs Ministry described it as a dispute over his father, the German news agency DPA reported.
During the initial investigation, the letter written by the suspect and found near the crime scene contained a “non-specific” threat of explosives related to Oktoberfest, Bavarian State Police said.
The man police believe is the suspect’s 90-year-old father, a man, is dead at the scene, reported DPA.
The suspect’s 81-year-old mother and his 21-year-old daughter, a German and Brazilian dual citizen, were injured in the incident and were hospitalized for treatment, police said.
According to city police, a specialized team was called to the scene to soften the booby traps on the residential building. Photos from the area also showed burnt-out vans.
Images from the Oktoberfest site showed police in fluorescent vests patrol nearly Valen’s pavement near roller coasters and other rides and attractions.
Home Minister Alexander Dobrinz said the search was conducted on the Oktoberfest site using sniffer dogs and technical tools. Bavarian State Police said more than 500 police officers have been deployed.
This year’s Oktoberfest is scheduled to begin on September 20th and end on Sunday.
Decades ago, Oktoberfest was the target of a deadly neo-Nazi attack. The bombing on September 26, 1980 claimed the lives of three children and attacker Gundolf Koehler, including student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of the banned far-right group. More than 200 people were injured.
