News / Germany

German police shut down, evacuate music concert over 'terror threat'

Friday, 02 June 2017 10:50 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 02 June 2017 10:51 PM ]

Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nürburg following an evacuation alert over a possible "terrorist threat". (Photos by AFP)

German authorities have temporarily stopped an open-air weekend concert and cleared thousands of people from the music festival in western Germany over a "possible terrorist threat".

The German police interrupted the three-day Rock am Ring concert, one of Germany's biggest music festivals, in the vicinity of Nürburgring's motorsports complex in Nürburg town in Rhineland-Palatinate state on Friday, saying the measure had been adopted "due to a terror danger situation."

Thousands of festival goers began streaming out of the arena soon after the order was given to evacuate the area.

"The organizer of Rock am Ring, working closely with the security authorities, have ended ahead of schedule the festival today," the police said in a statement, adding, "The background to this was a concrete warning that made it impossible to rule out a terror threat."

They also noted that they "take all tips and suspicious incidents extremely seriously and investigate closely" but did not give any further details on the threat.

Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nürburg following an evacuation alert over a possible "terrorist threat".

The development came after a May 22 terror attack on a concert hall in Manchester, Britain, claimed the lives of over 20 people and injured some 120 others. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, which was purportedly carried out by a radicalized young man.

The German police further said that after the Manchester attack they had boosted security for the concert, substantially raising the number of security personnel on duty to 1,200.

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