Oktoberfest to reopen after bomb threat linked to explosion at house in Munich

The Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich is reopening on Wednesday evening after an hourslong closure due to a bomb threat by a suspect linked to an explosion at a residential building in the north of the city, according to authorities.

Police said preliminary findings indicated that the suspect — a 57-year-old German citizen — had killed himself near a lake in northern Munich.

That came after he had set his family home alight due to a domestic dispute and issued a bomb threat against Oktoberfest, according to the authorities.

The beer festival had been closed on Wednesday morning but was set to reopen at 5:30 pm after police completed a security sweep and found nothing suspicious.

The suspect, who lived in the town of Starnberg south of Munich, had been carrying a backpack containing an explosive device, according to police.

Authorities said the blast before dawn in northern Munich at a residential building — which had been deliberately set on fire — appeared connected to a family dispute.

The suspect's 81-year-old mother and 21-year-old daughter, who is a German-Brazilian dual national, were injured and had been hospitalised for treatment, police said.

Specialised teams were called to the scene to defuse booby traps in the residential building. Photos from the area also showed a burned-out van on the street.

During the initial probe, a letter by the suspect found near the crime scene contained a "non-specific" threat of explosives related to Oktoberfest, according to authorities.

Photographs from the Oktoberfest grounds showed police in fluorescent vests patrolling nearly-barren pavement near roller coasters and other rides and attractions that are part of the world’s largest beer festival, which usually attracts up to 6 million visitors.

Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said searches were conducted with sniffer dogs and tech tools at the site. More than 500 officers were deployed.

This year's Oktoberfest began on 20 Sept and is set to end on Sunday.

Decades ago, Oktoberfest was the target of a deadly neo-Nazi attack. A bombing on 26 Sept 1980, killed 13 people, including three children and the attacker, student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of a banned far-right group. More than 200 people were wounded.