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Corpses found after mystery house explosion

Two charred bodies have been found in the ruins of a house that exploded overnight, authorities announced Wednesday. One of the bodies was found in the home’s cellar.

Published: 20 January 2011 08:56 CET
Updated: 20 January 2011 11:32 CET

Corpses found after mystery house explosion

Photo: DPA

The house belonging to an elderly couple in the town of Germering, west of Munich, was completely destroyed. The body in the cellar is believed to be that of an 84-year-old woman.

Police were not able to say immediately whether the second body, found in the burnt-out ruins of the house itself, belonged to the woman’s 88-year-old husband.

The cause of the explosion also remains a mystery, though the police had ruled out a gas leak as the cause.

Several neighbouring houses were also damaged by the blast, mostly in the form of shattered windows.

Neighbours alerted the police about 12:30 am Thursday. A police spokesman described the scene as a “picture of devastation.” Some 150 fire officers were deployed.

DAPD/The Local/djw

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Germany in talks on further payout for 1972 Olympics victims

Ahead of the commemoration in September, relatives of the Israelis killed have indicated they are unhappy with what Germany is offering.

“Conversations based on trust are taking place with representatives of the victims’ families,” a German interior ministry spokesman told AFP when asked about the negotiations.

He did not specify who would benefit or how much money had been earmarked, saying only that any package would “again” be financed by the federal government, the state of Bavaria and the city of Munich.

On September 5th, 1972, eight gunmen broke into the Israeli team’s flat at the Olympic village, shooting dead two and taking nine Israelis hostage, threatening to kill them unless 232 Palestinian prisoners were released.

West German police responded with a bungled rescue operation in which all nine hostages were killed, along with five of the eight hostage-takers and a police officer.

An armed police officer in a tracksuit secures the block where terrorists held Israeli hostages at the Olympic Village in Munich on 5th September 1972. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Horst Ossingert

The spokeswoman for the victims’ families, Ankie Spitzer, told the German media group RND that the amount currently on the table was “insulting” and threatened a boycott of this year’s commemorations.

She said Berlin was offering a total of €10 million including around €4.5 million already provided in compensation between 1972 and 2002 — an amount she said did not correspond to international standards.

“We are angry and disappointed,” said Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer who was killed in the attack. “We never wanted to talk publicly about money but now we are forced to.”

RND reported that the German and Israeli governments would like to see an accord by August 15th.

The interior ministry spokesman said that beyond compensation, Germany intended to use the anniversary for fresh “historical appraisal, remembrance and recognition”.

He said this would include the formation of a commission of German and Israeli historians to “comprehensively” establish what happened “from the perspective of the year 2022”.

This would lead to “an offer of further acts of acknowledgement of the relatives of the victims of the attack” and the “grave consequences” they suffered.

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