The Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich was closed on Wednesday after police said they found explosives in a residential building in the city that caught fire and killed at least one person.
Special forces were investigating an area in the north of Munich earlier in the day, where the Bild newspaper and multiple other reports said shots and explosions had been heard.
City officials said there had been a bomb threat issued by the suspected perpetrator of the explosion early on Wednesday. Munich police said the explosion was part of a domestic dispute, and that the residential building had been “deliberately set on fire”.
Authorities found “explosive traps” in a house and had to call in special forces to defuse them, Munich police said on X, formerly Twitter. Investigators found hand grenades and tripwires, according to Welt.
An unidentified person was found seriously injured near the scene of the fire at Lerchenau Lake. Police later reported that they had died, and that another person was missing. It was not immediately clear whether the deceased person was the suspected perpetrator or someone else.
One resident told the dpa news agency: “I woke up around five o’clock because there were a few bangs. I got up, looked, and then there was a fire.”
Numerous emergency personnel were on site on Wednesday morning. A middle school around a kilometre from the scene was closed, and traffic was diverted from the area.
A motive is still unclear. Police are also said to be investigating posts apparently published online, claiming responsibility for attacks on luxury cars in northern Munich, local media reports.
Security services told Welt that doubts remain as to the authenticity of the post.
The city of Munich announced that there was a “corresponding letter from the perpetrator”, without further details.
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said the closure of the festival followed “a perpetrator threatening the Oktoberfest”.
“The police will do everything to have the entire Wiesn searched by 5 p.m. this afternoon, if possible, to ensure safety,” he wrote on Instagram. “If that’s not the case, I’ll get in touch again, and then the Wiesn won’t open at all today.”
Police searched the Oktoberfest fairgrounds for other explosive devices and asked workers to leave the area. Witnesses told Seuddeutsche the entire area was evacuated around 9.45am local time.
A loudspeaker blared a warning to festival-goers arriving early this morning, citing a “bomb threat”, FAZ reports.
Some went to local beer gardens in the area, hoping they would be able to return to the festival later today.
Police were searching tents set up near the entrance this morning but found nothing, Seuddeutsche reports, citing authorities.
Police confirmed just after 7am on Wednesday morning that authorities were initially responding to an incident “due to a burning residential building”.
They were called to the scene around 4.40am as residents reported hearing explosions or gunshots.
“Loud banging noises were heard”, police reported, and an injured person was found who, they said, “might be connected to the incident”.
A van was also burned out nearby, they said. Initial images from the scene showed several burned cars in a street after the fire.
They assured the public that the missing person posed no threat.
Oktoberfest is the world’s largest beer festival and usually attracts up to six million visitors.
This year’s festival began on 20 September and ends on 5 October.
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