German ‘Bomb Blast’ Injures Many

One person was critically injured and four people seriously injured in the blast, which showered the street with glass and debris.

The explosion occurred outside a three-storey building housing both flats and shops in the district of Muelheim.

"We are assuming it was an attack," a police spokesman told Reuters news agency, adding no warning was given.

No clues

The blast hit the building – in a busy shopping street in the mainly Turkish district – at about 1600 local time (1400 GMT).

Several shops and cars in the street were damaged.

Thousands of nails were found at the scene, sparking speculation that they might have been in the bomb, but police said they could not confirm that.

The shops closest to the blast were reportedly a pizzeria and hairdressers’ salon.

The wounded are being treated in hospital. They include a critically injured man who was standing in front of the pizzeria at the time of the explosion, AP news agency quoted a fire department spokesman as saying.

Police have sealed off the area around the blast site and are reportedly sweeping the area for suspects.

They say they have no clues to the identity or motive of the suspected attackers, but have not ruled out a political motive.

Cologne, Germany’s fourth-largest city, has substantial Turkish and Kurdish communities