by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
MUNICH, GERMANY (Worthy News) – The German city of Munich was rocked early Wednesday by explosions, gunfire, and a deadly fire in its northern quarter, prompting fears of a link to Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival.
Police said a male body with gunshot wounds was discovered near Lake Lerchenauer.
Local media reported the man had booby-trapped and set fire to his parents’ home before apparently taking his own life. A burned-out bus was also found at the scene.
Bomb disposal experts were deployed amid fears of further explosives. Nearby schools were closed in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, and seen as an important political center for the southeastern state and Germany as a whole.
Authorities confirmed they are “investigating in all directions,” including possible links to the Oktoberfest grounds, known as the Wiesn. The city announced that the festival would remain closed until at least 5 p.m. after a letter left behind by the suspect was discovered. Officials said the note is being taken seriously.
SECURITY RESPONSE
Despite the massive security response, police later stressed that there is “no ongoing danger to the wider public,” according to a published statement.
The incident comes in a city still reeling from recent attacks.
On February 13, 2025, an Afghan national drove a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring at least 36 people, several of them seriously, authorities said.
German prosecutors explained that the suspect confessed, and the case is being treated as a murder attempt.
The suspected attack came hours before international leaders, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were due to arrive in Munich for the Munich Security Conference to discuss global threats.
OKTOBERFEST CHAOS
Fast forward, security concerns remained halfway through Oktoberfest, which runs this year from September 20 to October 5, with questions over crowd control mounting.
On Saturday, the entrances to the festival grounds were closed for about 30 minutes due to overcrowding.
A loudspeaker announcement urged visitors to leave the festival grounds without explanation, sparking confusion. Some visitors described the scene as terrifying.
“It was close to mass panic,” one woman wrote on social media platform Instagram, saying she feared being “trampled to death and knocked over.”
Another festivalgoer called the situation “extremely dangerous,” with people screaming and crying.
HEIGHTENED TENSIONS
Participants reported bottlenecks and gridlocked exits.
Videos shared on platform TikTok showed festivalgoers stuck in dense crowds, unable to move in any direction.
The combination of explosions, the car-ramming attack earlier this year, and mounting security and crowd-control concerns at Oktoberfest have left Munich residents and visitors on edge.
Authorities say the homicide division, counterterrorism units, and bomb disposal experts remain active on the ground, with further announcements expected later Wednesday.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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