The German authorities closed the Oktoberfest grounds in Munich on Wednesday because of a bomb threat that they said was linked to an explosion in a residential area of the city.
The Munich police said in a statement that emergency medical workers were called to a burning building in the north of the city earlier on Wednesday after neighbors reported hearing explosions. One severely wounded man who later died was found close to the house, and “explosive traps” were discovered inside the building, the police added.
The authorities initially said that they believed the fire had been linked to a domestic conflict, and that officers were checking several places associated with the burning building — including the Theresienwiese, where Oktoberfest takes place. It was not immediately clear why the authorities thought that the house fire was linked to the Theresienwiese.
Tens of thousands of people are in Munich for the 190th iteration of Oktoberfest. The authorities said that the festival would be closed until at least 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
Oktoberfest drew about 6.7 million visitors last year. The festival in Munich was last shuttered in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 1980, 13 people were killed in a terrorist attack at a festival exit.
Christopher F. Schuetze is a reporter for The Times based in Berlin, covering politics, society and culture in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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