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Suicide Bomber Injures Crowd Outside German Music Festival

A suicide bomber has detonated a bomb at the entrance to the Ansbach Open music festival in the German town of Ansbach, near Nuremberg. The suspected bomber — the only confirmed casualty of the blast — reportedly attempted to gain access to the entrance of the festival prior to detonation at around 10pm on Sunday night, local time.

As The Guardian reports, up to 2,500 people were in attendance at the three-day festival when the explosion occurred outside the festival grounds. At least 12 people were injured in the explosion, with three still in a life-threatening condition.

Authorities say the bomber is believed to be a 27-year-old Syrian who had been denied asylum and has previously been treated for mental health issues. There are unconfirmed reports that he was seen wearing a black backpack at the entrance to the festival, before the explosion at the entrance to a wine-bar close to the festival entrance.

Emergency services initially responded to a gas explosion before arriving on the scene. However amongst all this, the festival was evacuated “without panic, calm and in an orderly manner”, authorities say.

The incident was the fourth violent incident in Germany in a week, after the killing of nine people by an 18-year-old gunman in Munich on Friday.

The festival’s lineup is said to have featured pop artists like Joris, Philip Dittberner and Gregor Meyle.

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