Bielefeld (dpa / lnw) – In a shop in Bielefeld, a man threatened to cause an explosion with two gas bottles and was overpowered by special forces. The police were alerted in the afternoon because the 63-year-old threatened to set fire to the gas from the bottles he had brought with him. The business – a corner building in the city center the size of an apartment building – was then evacuated, a police spokesman reported. This was done without panic and in an orderly manner.
About 50 minutes after the start of the operation, the man actually opened a bottle and ignited the escaping gas with a lighter. A flame developed, the SEK officers stormed the premises and arrested the man from Bielefeld.
The 63-year-old suffered burn injuries and was treated on site by a doctor. Nothing precise was initially known about the motives of the Bielefeld man. The motive is probably “in the personal area”. The road around the building had been cordoned off and ambulances had been ordered as a precaution. However, apart from the arrested person, no one was harmed.