Later, the police reported that the suspicious item was deemed harmless, and the railway station was reopened at 10 a.m.
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“We can announce that the danger has passed – the object we found in front of the main railway station was harmless, and we have reopened the station,” police spokesperson Timo Kufner told The Associated Press news agency.
“Trains are also running again,” he added.
According to officials, at about 3:15 a.m., an unidentified object exploded in a crossing near the station, causing minor injuries to two people.
The German news agency dpa reported that the injured – a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man – are both Ukrainian citizens.
Later, according to T. Kufner, another suspicious object was found inside the railway station itself, which did not explode but, for safety reasons, forced the station to close at 8:30 a.m.
Explosives experts from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office conducted an investigation at the scene.
“It is still too early to say anything about a possible motive for the nighttime explosion, but we are conducting an investigation,” emphasized T. Kufner.
Did they detonate a grenade?
The German tabloid Bild, citing sources, reports that a hand grenade exploded near a jewelry store by the station, causing minor damage to the facade. However, the police have not confirmed the report about a grenade.
Bild also noted that the police completely closed the station after a bomb-sniffing dog found a second “suspicious item,” which turned out to be grenade fragments.
So far, no further information about suspects or motive has been provided.
Augsburg is a city in Bavaria with over 300,000 inhabitants, located about 78 kilometers northwest of Munich.
On Tuesday, it was announced that in Germany, near the Preilack substation, which distributes electricity from the nearby Jenschwalde power plant, homemade explosive devices were used in an act of sabotage, damaging several power lines and briefly disrupting supply.
According to officials, no one was harmed in this incident, and in the area about 100 km southeast of Berlin, there were no major power supply disruptions.
On Tuesday, Germany accused Russia of attempting a hybrid attack last month at Leipzig Airport, using a drone with explosives, and announced diplomatic retaliatory measures.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin called these measures a mistake and accused Berlin of fabricating evidence.
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