Police in Berlin are searching for a suspect who left a backpack filled with explosives at a regional train station in the German capital on Wednesday, according to a statement on X.
Law enforcement officers attempted to apprehend the individual at the Berlin Neukölln station, near the city center, around 3:30 PM. However, the suspect fled, leaving behind a bag that authorities later found to contain explosives. Police conducted a controlled detonation of the bag’s contents in a nearby park.
The backpack reportedly contained a grayish substance, a plastic bottle wrapped in wires, and a paper bag containing additional cables, the German newspaper Bild reported. The authorities have since determined that the substance was TATP (triacetone triperoxide), a powerful and particularly unstable explosive known for its sensitivity to heat, friction, and shock.
A police official said that the officers’ intervention “may have thwarted a potential terrorist attack.” German authorities are remaining vigilant for potential “terrorist threats, including jihadist and far-right extremism,” AFP reported.
Less than two weeks ago, officials announced that they had foiled a plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin and arrested a Libyan suspect believed to have ties to the Islamic State.