Four injured as old bomb explodes near train station in German city of Munich

Two men were in the plant for four hours before detonating timer device underneath train in lube oil

Four injured as old bomb explodes near train station in German city of Munich

A bomb squad has defused an old ordnance caused by a company worker who set off an improvised explosive device as he was doing maintenance work at an old tube manufacturing plant in the western German city of Munich.

Two men were in the plant for four hours before detonating the timer device underneath a train, in a rubbish bin or under a bed. Three of the two other men who were injured had also been working at the factory for some time.

Because of the depth of the blast, police were unable to carry out a controlled explosion on the device.

Bomb squad spokesman Thomas Lutz said the device “was packed with 5kg of different components, from bomb triggers to chemicals like hydrogen cyanide”. The rail network was evacuated in the wake of the explosion.

He said: “It’s unclear what the motivation for this was but it’s an old pipe bomb from the 60s that this person had prepared in the factory for several months.”