17-year-old Dutch boy killed in explosion in Germany

The suspected perpetrator of the explosion in the German city of Solingen is a 17-year-old boy from the Netherlands, the German police reported on Friday. The minor was injured in the incident and died without providing further details about the young Dutch.

The incident happened on Tuesday around 2:20 p.m. Witnesses reported a loud bang and smoke near a residential and commercial building. According to initial police investigations, the boy had thrown a bottle containing an as-yet-unknown liquid onto the street. When the bottle broke, it caused a big explosion. When the bottle broke, it caused an explosion. According to German broadcaster WDR, the explosion occurred between a fitness studio and a café.The boy was seriously injured and had to be taken by rescue helicopter to a specialist clinic, where he died a few hours later. Four bystanders, including a 7-year-old girl, suffered minor injuries and were treated in hospital, police said.

The German police cannot provide further details as the investigation is ongoing. In the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the public prosecutor said the boy was a blank slate for the German authorities. "He was completely unknown," he said. It was also unclear why and how he had come to Solingen. Dutch authorities are now also involved in the case, the German newspaper wrote.

According to the newspaper, the investigators do not want to reveal the nationality of the 17-year-old out of consideration for his family environment. The four injured were accidental victims and not targets, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Although the motive is still unclear, the newspaper speculates that the offense could be either an attempted homicide or suicide. However, an accident, i.e., negligently causing an explosion, cannot be ruled out either.