Cycling: This afternoon a local radio station reported that the 54th edition of the "Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt", which traditionally takes place on May 1st, was the target of a terrorist attack. After the event was initially supposed to take place as planned, it was canceled this evening. The suspected assassins have since been caught.
This afternoon, organizer Bernd Moos-Achenbach made a confident statement to the German Press Agency: "I don't see any danger to the race at the moment." A few hours later it was clear: the danger was very real and although the suspected assassins were caught, the risk is still too high. During a major operation by the Hessian police in the afternoon in the Frankfurt suburb of Oberusel, a couple was arrested - in the basement of their house, the officers found a working pipe bomb, several hundred rounds of live ammunition and a rocket launcher. The police only tracked down the couple thanks to a tip from a Frankfurt hardware store employee who reported at the end of March that a couple had bought three liters of hydrogen peroxide. The substance is used, among other things, for the production of explosives.
The 35-year-old man is known to the police and seems to have connections to the Islamist-Salafist scene. The couple had been under surveillance by the criminal police since mid-April and the man was conspicuously often in the area of the course of the Frankfurt street race. It was finally accessed this afternoon. The two are due to be brought before the magistrate today. Even though the two suspected assassins have now been arrested, the situation is still too uncertain to ensure the safety of participants and spectators. BDR President Rudolf Scharping regrets the cancellation: "Unfortunately, but a decision that is due to the need for security. It's a shame that individuals are breaking something that millions were looking forward to."