Germany: Manhunt after explosives left at Berlin station

Police were searching for a suspect on Thursday after he apparently dropped a bag of explosives when confronted by officers at a Berlin train station on Wednesday evening.

A police officer told the daily Berliner Zeitung that "it seems as if an attack has been prevented," as an explosion caused by the contents of the bag would have had "dramatic consequences" if it occurred near a group of people.

The man ran away after he was subjected to a check by police officers.

Berlin police said the bag was reportedly destroyed at a nearby car park in a controlled explosion.

Nature of explosives unconfirmed

A police spokesman said results of an examination of the explosives were not yet availabe. 

However, the mass-circulation Bild daily said that the bag had contained triacetone triperoxide, an explosive powder known often used in extremist attacks on the public.

A parliamentarian from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, Dirk Wiese, told the daily Rheinische Post that police "were obviously able to thwart an attack". 

"This clearly shows how high the terror threat is in our country," he told the newspaper.

 tj/kb (dpa, AFP)