Munich’s Oktoberfest briefly closed by bomb threat, deadly family drama
The security threat was linked to a 57-year-old man who set his parents’ home ablaze before being found with an explosives-laden backpack
A suspect who set fire to his parents’ home while his family was inside, and who was found with an explosives-laden backpack, prompted the temporary shutdown of Germany’s famed Oktoberfest on Wednesday.
Police said the 57-year-old man had wounded his mother and daughter, booby-trapped and set ablaze their home, and then killed himself at a nearby lake in the city’s leafy northern Lerchenau district.
They said he was still alive when found but badly wounded, and later died.
Police also said he was “carrying a backpack, which, according to current information, contains an explosive device that must now be deactivated”.
A written threat from the suspect against Oktoberfest was also found, leading Munich officials to temporarily close and sweep the site of the globally renowned festival for explosives.
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter later said it would reopen at 5.30pm local time.