A terrorist threat last night caused the evacuation of one of Europe’s biggest rock music festivals which was abruptly halted mid-way through a performance on the main stage.
An organiser of the Rock am Ring festival, which attracts 90,000 music fans, appeared suddenly at the microphone to announce that police believed there was a “concrete terror situation”.
This morning it was announced that the festival would resume after the terrorist threat proved to be unfounded. “After a series of intensive searches across the site the fears of an imminent danger were not confirmed,” the organisers said.
The German authorities have been on alert for further terror attacks following the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin by a lorry stolen by Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker, which left 12 dead in December. It was claimed by Islamic State.
Rock am Ring is taking place this year back at its traditional location of Nürburgring, a large site in west Germany which also hosts the Grand Prix and other motor sports events, after moving to another site last year.
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Just as the sun went down and the Düsseldorf band Broilers were in full flow, Marek Lieberberg, an organiser, appealed for fans to leave the concert ground in an orderly fashion and head back to their tents in the camping areas. The three-day festival was due to run until Sunday and organisers hope it will resume today.
Bild newspaper reported that the large crowd of tens of thousands filed out of the open-air venue calmly without any signs of panic.
Police in the nearby town of Koblenz said that they were in possession of “concrete elements, in the light of which a possible terrorist threat cannot be ruled out”.
The festival posted a message on its website appealing for co-operation with the police. “Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival,” it said. “We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations.”