Three people are believed to be in a serious condition.
A Syrian man killed himself and injured 15 people in a “deliberate explosion” outside a music festival in the German town of Ansbach at about 10pm last night (July 24).
The open-air festival was attended by around 2,500 people and included performances from Ian Anderson, frontman of the now defunct Jethro Tull.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann, said at a press conference this morning that the 27-year-old Syrian man detonated the bomb after being refused entry to the festival, reports the Guardian. Hermann said the man’s backpack was filled with enough screws and nails to have killed more people. “The explosion was set off deliberately,” stated Michael Siefener, a spokesman for the regional interior ministry. The attacker’s motive was unclear.
“People were definitely panicking, the rumour we were hearing immediately was that there had been a gas explosion,” said Thomas Debinski, who was interviewed by Sky News. “But then people came past and said it was a rucksack that had exploded. Someone blew themselves up. After what just happened in Munich it’s very disturbing to think what can happen so close to you in such a small town.”
The perpetrator had been denied an asylum request to remain in Bavaria but was allowed to stay in the country because of the unrest in Syria.
The Ansbach attack is the latest in a string of violent incidents that have taken place in Germany. On Friday night, nine people were killed by an 18-year-old Iranian-German man in Munich and last Monday, an axe attack on a train near Würzburg last Monday left five people wounded.
Update, July 25, 3:10pm: The bomber pleaded allegiance to IS before the attack
As BBC News reports, a video of the man pleading allegiance to Islamic State in which he threatened a “revenge attack” on Germany was found on his phone.
Bavaria’s interior minister Joachim Hermann also said that two phones, multiple SIM cards and a laptop were found with the body of the man or at his accommodation.
Authorities also found bomb-making equipment at the asylum seeker accommodation where where the man lived, including petrol, hydrogen peroxide and batteries.
