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Driver killed after bomb explodes in car in Berlin

A man has died after a bomb exploded “on or inside” the car he was driving in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin this morning, police have confirmed.

The Volkswagen Passat exploded at around 8.00 a.m. on Bismarkstrasse, near the Deutsche Oper subway station, during the morning rush hour.

Eyewitnesses said the driver managed to escape from the car but collapsed due to his injuries, Tagesspiegel reports. Emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but at 8.40 a.m. he was declared dead. No one else was injured in the incident.

Police said there was “no indication” the explosion was a terrorist incident. Berlin state interior minister Frank Henkel said the investigation is focusing on connections to organized crime.

Berlin prosecutor Martin Steltner said the dead man is a 43-year-old Turkish citizen. He was linked to crimes involving drugs, counterfeit money and illegal gambling until 2008, but has not come to the attention of police since.

It is not known whether the dead man was the intended target of the bomb.

Image: @polizeiberlin/Twitter

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