Munich Terror Threat Remains in Place, Train Stations Re-open

German police lifted their imminent attack alert in Munich on Friday afternoon.

In Munich, just shortly before the city rang in the new year, police had evacuated the main train station and a station in the Pasing neighbourhood. By Friday morning, the stations were reopened, Munich police said, but warned the public to remain vigilant.

“Last night’s threat was so specific that we couldn’t wait to determine whether it was serious or not, but had to act”, Herrmann said. If we knew this we would be a clear step further. “We can’t rule out that these people exist, but we can’t confirm it either”.

Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae said “five to seven” suspects were believed to be involved in planning a “suicide attack” as the festivities got under way. Heavily armed officers stood on almost every corner as others with rifles and binoculars surveyed the crowd from rooftops above.

But the Bavarian security official says the warning about Islamic State extremists intending to blow themselves up in Munich is no longer acute.

The Bavarian interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, told a media conference on Thursday night: “The threat was very concretely centred on midnight and at these two places”.

In New York City, where one million people were expected to gather in Times Square to watch the traditional ball drop ceremony, thousands of police officers were deployed, including hundreds who are part of a new anti-terror force. “From Isis’s point of view, such a relatively small train station would not have “made sense” as a target”.

Security was tight, some events were called off and in Munich two train stations were closed, all over fears of terror threats, but around the world revellers took to the streets to welcome the new year.

On Twitter and Facebook, Munich police asked people to avoid crowded places amid the ongoing New Year celebrations.

Days after the 13 November attacks in Paris, a football friendly between Germany and Holland in Hanover was cancelled 91 minutes before kick-off after police received “concrete information” of a planned attack in the stadium. The authorities never reported any findings of explosives or concrete attack plans.

Cities across Europe have been on alert for a possible New Year’s Eve attack.

The French president himself appeared with some of the 11,000 soldiers on duty, a photo op created to reassure both residents and visitors. “Thanks for staying calm and for your understanding concerning our measures”, the latest message in English said. German police said Thursday that they had “indications that a terror attack” was being planned for New Year’s Eve in Munich. That tip, too, had included the names of several suspects.