12 with minor injuries after masked man sets off device on German train

Twelve people suffered minor injuries after a masked man allegedly threatened an attack and set off firecrackers or a soft-air grenade aboard a high-speed train in western Germany, according to local media. The suspect was arrested after other passengers forced him into a restroom and locked him inside.

The incident happened Thursday night aboard ICE 19, a long-distance high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway. It had been traveling toward Frankfurt when it stopped at the Siegburg-Bonn station in Siegburg, a city in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Emergency crews and police began a major response around 9 p.m., and train service through the station was later suspended, according to Bild.

Federal police said the man had threatened to carry out an attack and set off firecrackers. Bild reported that passengers heard an explosion in carriage 23 and saw smoke, and that the object which exploded was believed to be a soft-air grenade thrown from a train restroom into the aisle.

Bild reported that 12 people suffered minor injuries from flying soft-air pellets after the device exploded in carriage 23. The outlet also said about 500 passengers were evacuated from the train.

Before police arrived, a passenger forced the suspect into a train restroom and locked him inside, Bild reported. Federal police officers later took the man into custody.

Bild identified the suspect as a 20-year-old German man. The outlet said he had allegedly told people he wanted to kill them and was carrying a large knife in his backpack.