Germany's Oktoberfest to reopen after bomb scare

By Ayhan Uyanik

MUNICH (Reuters) -The Oktoberfest will reopen on Wednesday evening after police found nothing suspicious in a major operation prompted by a bomb threat and the discovery of explosives in a Munich residential building after an incident that left at least one person dead.

"We haven't found anything unusual that could be related to this potential threat scenario," a Munich police spokesperson told reporters, adding that the search had involved nearly 30 sniffer dogs from across Bavaria.

The Oktoberfest, which last year attracted 6.7 million visitors who consumed about 7 million litres of beer, will reopen at 5:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), its website said.

DISAPPOINTED REVELLERS WAITED OUTSIDE

However, on Wednesday the Ferris wheel and roller coaster stood eerily still as lederhosen-clad revellers stood around nervously outside the venue. The festival opened on September 20 and will end on October 5.

Police had kept it shut due to an uncertain situation involving explosives in a house in northern Munich where a shooting took place between family members and a threat made to the Oktoberfest.

The exact connection between the two is unclear.

Police said the residential building had been deliberately set on fire in a family dispute and one person had died.

Special forces were brought in to defuse booby traps found in the building, according to police, and neighbours within a 200-metre radius were evacuated.

A burnt-out van and fire-damaged cars were also found near the building.

Earlier, police said a 57-year-old German was suspected of setting fire to a building due to a family dispute.

Initial findings pointed to the suspect committing suicide near a lake. He was carrying a backpack which is believed to have contained an explosive device that had to be defused, police said.

Bild and other media outlets reported that the suspect had shot dead his father and that the dispute was over inheritance. Police said they were still trying to establish whether anyone else was in the building.

Two other people were injured in the incident, said police, the 81-year-old German mother of the suspect and his 21-year-old daughter, who is a German-Brazilian citizen.

(Reporting by Ayhan Uyanik, Writing by Miranda Murray and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Kim Coghill and Ed Osmond)