Bomb threats have been reported throughout Germany for a few days now, with particular focus on schools. Now the Erfurt town hall has also been hit. © Martin Schutt/dpa
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Today there were again numerous bomb threats across the country. In various federal states, the police reported threats again in the morning, most of which were received by email at schools and other public institutions. The buildings were cleared and searched, and sniffer dogs were deployed in many places. Initially, a real threat situation could not be confirmed in any of the cases.
Already in the past few days there have been events all over Germany constant bomb threats known. The focus is particularly on schools, but also media companies like this ZDF and RTL and other institutions were threatened. The authors are unknown and the background is unclear.
“We cannot at this point make a conclusive assessment as to whether the threats are aimed at an extremist goal or whether they are possibly free riders who call themselves Hamas to increase the effectiveness of their threats,” said a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. One cannot yet say “that there is a uniform line”. What is certain is that no damage has occurred yet.
She pointed out that such incidents first occurred in France after the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel. Later, the first bomb threats were also received in Germany, in which a connection was made to the current Middle East conflict. There have been significantly more such threats since this week.
The investigations are the responsibility of the federal states, which also exchange information, said the ministry spokeswoman at the federal press conference. However, there is a so-called information collection point in the Federal Criminal Police Office regarding the entire Middle East conflict, which was set up immediately after the start of the war. “This is standard police procedure.” All the information came together there, including information about bomb threats.
Bomb threat in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria
In NRW There was a bomb threat against one on Monday morning School in Holzwickede. The building was then evacuated by the police. As of this morning, however, there was no indication of danger for teachers, students or students, as the police announced.
In Bavaria there were also school evictions in the morning as a result of threatening letters. In Augsburg, a high school was closed and searched with sniffer dogs, but according to police, investigators assumed there was a low risk.
Thuringia
In Erfurt, the town hall was temporarily cordoned off in the morning due to a bomb threat. A sniffer dog was used to search the building, a spokeswoman for the Erfurt police said.
The threat was received by email, but the spokeswoman initially declined to say whether there was a political motive. Employees were asked to leave the building or stay at home. According to the information, areas around the town hall were also partially affected by the closure – such as a bank branch.
The MDR also reported on bomb threats at schools in Erfurt and Neudietendorf (Gotha district). The homepage of the Albert Schweitzer High School in Erfurt stated that all students and teachers had to stay at home because of a bomb threat. A spokeswoman for the Gotha police said that the police were on site at the school in Neudietendorf.
According to the information, there were also threatening letters at a school in the Ilm district and at a bus company in the Gotha district. The police said it was checking whether there were connections to other regional and supra-regional threat situations.
Baden-Württemberg
In Baden-Württemberg, the police evacuated five schools and a university this morning. First a bomb threat was received in Schorndorf, later also in Fellbach, Waiblingen (all three in the Rems-Murr district) and Stuttgart-Vaihingen. A school in Göppingen also received a threatening email before school started. All schools were searched for suspicious objects and the area was cordoned off. However, the emergency services couldn’t find anything.
In Mannheim, the Federal Employment Agency’s university was also evacuated because of a threatening email. A police spokesman confirmed that 150 students had to leave the building in the morning. The measures have now been completed and there is no longer any danger.
When asked, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior reported that all police headquarters had so far worked independently on the cases. This has not yet been brought together because the seriousness of the threats has not yet been confirmed, said a spokeswoman.
However, it is checked each time whether the cases should be combined. “We are monitoring this meticulously and checking the threats every time for authenticity,” said a spokeswoman. Every threat is taken seriously. The spokeswoman was unable to confirm any references to the conflict in the Middle East.
dpa/money
2023-10-27 15:52:01
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