Germany blast: Ansbach explosion 'kills suspected bomber'

They said a man - "according to our current knowledge the perpetrator" - had died in the blast.

The intended target was not clear but about 2,000 people have been evacuated from a nearby open-air music festival, the Bavarian interior ministry said.

It is third attack in the state of Bavaria in the past week.

A shooting rampage in Munich on Friday left nine dead while an axe attack on a train a week ago in Wuerzburg injured several people.

The explosion happened shortly after 22:00 (20:00 GMT) in, or close to, a wine bar that was near the entrance to the music festival, German media reported.

EPA

Initial reports suggested it might have been a gas explosion but the Bavarian interior ministry later said the blast appeared to have been intentional.

A police spokeswoman later said the suspected attacker had been carrying a backpack, but his identity was not yet known.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann was on his way to the scene.

The city's central square is packed with emergency vehicles and a town house is being used as an operations centre, the news website Nordbayern.de said (in German).