Police defuse explosive device in German market in Potsdam

  • 02/12/2017
The suspicious package was found in a pharmacy.
The suspicious package was found in a pharmacy. Photo credit: Reuters

German police have said a package containing nails, wires, batteries, fireworks and powder found near a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Potsdam near Berlin did not contain an ignition device.

The package was dropped off by a messenger service in the afternoon at a chemist in the Brandenburg state capital just as crowds were gathering at the nearby Christmas market.

Police sealed off the inner-city area and evacuated the market as experts examined the contents of the package.

The package was made safe by special forces but several hours later police said that no ignition mechanism had been found.

The German authorities have been on high security alert this week for the opening on the nation's Christmas markets 12 months after a Tunisian man ploughed a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 56.

Large cement blocks have been erected around Christmas markets across the nation among a slew of extra security measures for the markets, which form part of the festive build-up in Germany and where people gather to sample traditional fare such as mulled wine, roasted almonds and sausages.

Thousands attended the opening ceremony on Friday evening (local time) of Germany's biggest Christmas market in the southern city of Nuremberg.

The Bavarian city expects 2 million visitors to come to the Nuremberg market over the holiday season, with 20,000 expected on Friday night alone.

Bavarian police are testing out new mobile vehicle blockades at the markets in Munich and Nuremberg this year, which involve mounting iron columns in the ground to prevent a repeat of last year's attack in Berlin.

Nuremberg's Christmas market is one of Germany's oldest, mentioned in historical texts as early as 1628, and serves as a model for other Christmas markets across the world.

Reuters