This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/world/europe/ansbach-germany-explosion-music-festival.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Blast Near German Music Festival in Ansbach Kills 1 and Injures 10 Blast Near German Music Festival in Ansbach Kills One and Injures 12
(about 1 hour later)
At least one man was killed and at least 10 others were injured after an explosion in Ansbach, Germany, on Sunday night, German officials said. A Syrian refugee blew himself up and wounded 12 people near a music festival in Ansbach, Germany, on Sunday night. Three of the victims suffered grave injuries.
The Ansbach police were alerted to the detonation just after 10 p.m., they said in a statement. The police said they believed that the dead man had been behind the blast. The authorities identified the man behind the blast as a 27-year-old Syrian refugee who was denied asylum last year. He had attempted suicide twice before, and officials had not yet identified a motive for the detonation as of early Monday.
“We assume it was a deliberate explosion,” a Bavarian Interior Ministry spokesman said, according to Reuters. “We still don’t know whether the offender only wanted to commit suicide or whether it was his intention to kill other people as well,” Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian interior minister, said at a news conference.
The mayor of Ansbach, Carda Seidel, said at a news conference that there had been at least one detonation near a music festival with around 2,000 visitors. The open-air concert was subsequently canceled. Some witnesses reported hearing two explosions. Though the suspect was denied asylum, he was allowed to stay in refugee housing because of the dangerous situation in Syria.
Early reports indicated that none of the victims were critically injured, a local spokesman said at the news conference. The police said they had been alerted to the detonation just after 10 p.m. The explosive device, they said, was packed with “small metal parts” that were found around the location of the blast, near the front entrance of a music festival. The man set off the explosion after being refused entry to the festival, an open-air concert with about 2,500 visitors, officials said.
About 350 firefighters and rescue workers responded to the explosion. Ansbach is in the state of Bavaria, and is home to about 40,000 people. “It is only thanks to fortunate circumstances that not more people were killed,” Mr. Herrmann said. “We now have to do everything that such violence in our country, by people who had entered it as asylum seekers, does not spread further.”
The explosion was part of a violent week for Germany. On Friday, nine people were killed by an 18-year-old Iranian-German gunman, who then killed himself. That attack had no overt terrorist ties, the authorities said. The explosion was part of a violent week for Germany. On Friday, nine people were killed by an 18-year-old Iranian-German gunman who then killed himself. That attack had no overt terrorist ties, the authorities said.
Last Monday, a young Afghan refugee wielding an ax and a knife on a passenger train wounded five people in the name of the Islamic State. And earlier on Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee killed a woman with a machete, an attack the authorities said they believed was linked to “relationship troubles.” Last Monday, a young Afghan refugee wielding an ax and a knife on a passenger train wounded five people in the name of the Islamic State. And earlier on Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee killed a woman with a machete, an attack officials said they believed was linked to “relationship troubles.”
The authorities said it was too early to assign an intent or responsibility for the Sunday evening explosion. The authorities said it was too soon to ascribe a motive to the Ansbach attack, but at least seven jihadist and pro-Islamic State channels on Telegram, a secure messaging app, promoted images of the explosion.
“The motive is unclear,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said, according to Der Spiegel. A special team was on its way “to determine the exact nature of the explosion,” the police in Ansbach said.
Nonetheless, at least seven jihadist and pro-Islamic State channels on Telegram, a secure messaging app, promoted images of the explosion. None are official Islamic State channels.