The Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich was temporarily closed on Wednesday after a bomb threat was linked to a killing and a series of explosions in a family home in the north of the city.
According to media reports, a 57-year-old German man allegedly shot dead his 90-year-old father and injured his mother, 81, and his 21-year-old daughter at a house in the Lerchenau district of Munich. He then allegedly booby-trapped the house with hand grenades with pins linked to tripwires, and set the house on fire.
The man left the house and is believed to have shot himself. His body was found in a nearby park.
Police at the park where the corpse was discovered
ALEXANDRA BEIER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Explosives experts examined his backpack. They said they found a letter on him that contained a threat against the Oktoberfest and given his use of boobytrap devices, authorities took the decision to shut it down.
Forensic officers near the house that was booby-trapped and set on fire
EPA/VIFOGRA
Police declined to comment on the wording of the threat, but the letter is understood to suggest the family dispute concerned an inheritance. His mother and daughter have both been taken to hospital.
About 500 police officers and 25 sniffer dogs combed the Theresienwiese ground in central Munich, assisted by festival security staff.
The empty grounds of the festival after police shut it down on Wednesday
ALEXANDRA BEIER / AFP
After five hours of searching, police said they had found nothing suspicious. It was later announced that the festival would reopen at 5.30pm.
Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, wrote on Instagram: “The police have just informed me that, in their view, it is safe for the Oktoberfest to continue. Therefore, the festival grounds will be reopened to all visitors from 5.30pm.”
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter tapping the first barrel of beer to get the festival started last month
REUTERS
Bild newspaper reported that the man came from the nearby town of Starnberg. His apartment there was also searched but no explosive devices were found.
The alert is the second disruption to the festival, which attracts more than six million visitors a year, after it was closed because of overcrowding on Saturday afternoon as 300,000 people descended on the site.
According to reports, the crowd came close to widespread panic with people unable to move in an area between two of the biggest tents, each of which holds more than 9,000 people. No one was hurt.