Man killed in Berlin car explosion

BERLIN

Police in Germany are linking a fatal car explosion in central Berlin on Tuesday to organized crime, an official said.

The city’s prosecutor’s office said the male victim, a 43-year-old Turkish national who was driving the car, was known to the police for drug offenses, forgery and illegal gambling.

Spokesman Martin Steltner told Anadolu Agency he was killed by an explosive device that had possibly been placed under the car.

“Initial findings show that it was not an accident but also not a terrorist attack,” he said. “We are investigating in the direction of organized crime. The 43-year-old man was living close to the scene where the car exploded. He had criminal record including gambling, counterfeit money and drug-related conviction in the past, for the period before 2008.”

He said the car was not registered to the victim who died at the scene in Bismarck Street in Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighborhood.

Following the blast, a bomb disposal team was sent to search for further explosives and police urged residents to stay away from windows.

A bomb-disposal team was sent to Bismarck Street in the Charlottenburg neighborhood to search for more possible explosives within the damaged Volkswagen Passat.

Police have urged residents in the area to stay away from their windows as the bomb squad examines the car.