A 27-year-old Syrian migrant who had been denied asylum set off a bomb at a bar in the Bavarian city of Ansbach that killed him and injured twelve others, according to German authorities.
“An explosion went off in the city center and a man, which the latest enquiries show caused it, was killed,” police said in a statement, AFP reports. A dozen people were wounded, three of them seriously, according to the AFP, after the bomb went off outside a bar in the center of Ansbach at around 10 p.m.
Authorities believe the suspected bomber, who was denied asylum a year ago, had intended to target a nearby music festival, regional Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told the DPA news agency. The man, who arrived in Germany two years ago, had tried to gain entry to the festival, but was barred from entering as he did not have a ticket.
Herrmann said the attacker had tried to commit suicide twice before and had spent time in a psychiatric clinic.
Authorities could not rule out that the attack was motivated by Islamic extremism, according to DPA.
Roman Fertinger, the Ansbach deputy police chief, said there were “indications” that pieces of metal were packed into the explosive device.
The blast is the third incident in Bavaria in a week. On Friday, nine people were killed in a shooting rampage in Munich, and last Monday several people were seriously injured after a teenager attacked train passengers with an ax.