This article is from the source 'rtcom' 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 https://www.rt.com/news/411594-police-in-potsdam-germany-evacuate-market/

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Explosive device found at German Christmas market in Potsdam (LIVE) Wired device ‘filled with nails’ defused at Christmas market in Potsdam, Germany
(about 1 hour later)
German police have discovered an explosive device at a Christmas market in the city of Potsdam. The area was evacuated following an earlier report about a suspicious package. The German police have evacuated a Christmas market in the city of Potsdam following a report about an “explosive device” allegedly planted nearby. Later, a wired device “filled with nails” was found and defused.
Police were “deployed to central Potsdam because a suspicious package [was found there],” the local police department said in a Twitter post. Local officers also cordoned off the area around the suspicious object and requested assistance of specialist officers, the statement added.
A bomb disposal unit examined the suspicious package reported to be 50 centimeters long and 40 centimeters wide. It confirmed that the object was dangerous and could possibly be explosive, German police said on Twitter.
Police also expanded the cordoned-off area. Officers urged people to clear the area using loud-speakers. In the meantime, the city authorities urged people to avoid the Christmas market.
The specialist unit then successfully defused the device in situ, German police said in a Twitter post. Earlier a local reporter, who was present at the scene, said she had heard the sound of an explosion.
The suspicious package was delivered to a pharmacy located near the Christmas market by a package delivery service, a police spokesman said. The pharmacy employee reported the suspicious package. Its still unclear, who ordered the delivery.
Police are “currently deployed to central Potsdam because a suspicious package [was found there],” the local police department said in a Twitter post. The device was filled with nails, a local police spokesman told journalists after the device was defused. The pharmacy employee who opened it said he found suspicious wires, a local police spokesman, Peter Meyritz, told Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten. Police said that it is still unclear if it was an explosive or incendiary device, adding that specialists were still examining it.
Local officers had already cordoned off the area around the suspicious object and requested assistance of specialist officers, the statement added. “There could be potentially other [similar] packages delivered to other places near the Christmas market,” he said, adding that the police launched an investigation into the issue.
Police also closed several roads adjacent to the area, German media report. A bomb disposal unit is currently examining the suspicious package, the police said. Later, police said on Twitter that the device was a “cylindrical object with wires and batteries” that also contained nails. However, no detonating fuse was found, police said.
An employee working in a local pharmacy was the first to report the suspicious package to the police. The object was reportedly planted on a children’s carousel located at the Christmas market, local media report, citing unnamed witnesses.
The package is reported to be 50 centimeters long and 40 centimeters wide. It was delivered to the pharmacy, where an employee opened it to find suspicious wires and devices inside, a local police spokesman, Peter Meyritz, told Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten.
The bomb-disposal unit has confirmed that the suspicious package is indeed an explosive device, German police said on Twitter. Officers urged people to clear the area using loud-speakers.
Police have also expanded the cordoned-off area. In the meantime, the city authorities have urged people to avoid the Christmas market.
A police specialist unit has successfully defused the device in situ, German police said in a Twitter post. Earlier a local reporter, who was present at the scene, said she had heard the sound of an explosion.