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Bomb alert in Bonn disrupts rail traffic

Richard ConnorMarch 25, 2016

Bonn's central train station has reopened after a bomb scare that halted rail traffic to the city. The closure came after a man called the local fire service to say a bomb had been left at the station.

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Bildergalerie Die Stadt Bonn
Image: DW/L.Tarek

The station was reopened on Friday evening after the all-clear was given following a police search for explosives.

Police officials said the closure had been ordered "in light of the current overall security situation." Security services across Europe are on high alert after suicide bombings in Brussels on Tuesday, which killed 31 people.

A police spokesperson told the local "General Anzeiger" newspaper that a man had called the Bonn Fire Department at 4:15 p.m. local time, claiming that a bomb had been left in the city's central station.

Replacement rail services were put in place for regional travelers, with long distance trains diverted through neighboring stations. DW's Felix Tamsut, who had been traveling between Cologne and Bonn, reported a shutdown of rail traffic to the former capital city.

Officers searched the station with sniffer dogs, but no bomb was found. The station was reopened at about 7 p.m.

Authorities say the hoax call came from a telephone box just outside the city center. Witnesses said they had seen a red-jacketed Mediterranean-looking man in the vicinity where the call was made, at around the same time. Police were said to still be tracing the individual.