Armed police were deployed to a centre for migrants in a German town after reports of an explosion.

Police later said they had arrived at the scene in Zirndorf to find a suitcase on fire at around 1.15pm UK time.

There was no indication that explosives were detonated, but it is thought at least one aerosol spray can in the suitcase may have blown up.

On their official Twitter account, police said: "no explosion, no injuries".

Image: Zirndorf is near Nuremburg

The BR24 news website reported witnesses as saying several men ran away from the scene after the blast.


Police are now searching for the owners of the suitcase and issued descriptions of a man aged around 30 and a woman of about 25 who were believed to have been seen with the suitcase.

Pictures of the scene outside the migrant centre in Bavaria appeared to show debris in an alleyway.

The armed response happened as Germany remained on edge just days after a Syrian with suspected links to Islamic State blew himself up near a bar in Ansbach, also in Bavaria.

Germany had already seen nine people killed in a shopping centre shooting spree in Munich on Friday and four passengers on a train and a passer-by wounded in an axe attack in Wuerzburg on July 18.