Ansbach explosion: Syrian asylum seeker blows himself up in Germany

BrandPower Magazine 25/07/2016Last Updated: 25/07/2016

1 minute read

A failed Syrian asylum seeker has blown himself up and injured 12 other people with a backpack bomb near a festival in the south German town of Ansbach.

The state of Bavaria’s interior minister said the 27-year-old man had detonated the device after being refused entry to the music festival.

About 2,500 people were evacuated from the venue after the explosion.

Bavaria has been on edge since a knife rampage on a train claimed by so-called Islamic State last Monday.

The Ansbach blast is reported to have happened at about 22:10 outside the Eugens Weinstube bar in the centre of the town, which has a population of 40,000 and is home to a US military base.

The bomb went off close to the entrance to the Ansbach Open music festival.

A witness, Thomas Debinski, reported “panic” after the explosion, although some people had thought it was caused by a gas explosion.

A backpack lies at the entrance of a building in Ansbach, Germany, Monday, July 25, 2016

The man, who has not yet been named, stood around the festival entrance for a short period before he blew himself up. The music festival and surrounding area were evacuated.

Authorities said the bomber had entered Germany two years ago and had previously applied for asylum in Germany, but his application had been rejected. He remained in the country as it is German policy to not allow rejected applicants to return to war zones.

Minister Joachim Herrmann said the attacker’s backpack contained screws and nails, an apparent attempt to inflict further damage.

He was also known to police in Ansbach for previous offenses, including violations of “narcotics law,” Herrmann said. He had also previously twice attempted suicide. However, the incident is being treated as a suicide bombing as opposed to a suicide attempt.

This comes days just after a German teenager of Iranian extraction went on a shooting rampage in the Bavarian state capital, Munich, killing nine people, most of them migrants, before shooting himself. He was said to have been obsessed with school shootings