Explosive device found at Jehovah's Witness meeting in Austria

DPA
·1 min read
An exterior view of the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall, where a package containing explosives has been found in the entrance area. Erwin Scheriau/APA/dpa
An exterior view of the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall, where a package containing explosives has been found in the entrance area. Erwin Scheriau/APA/dpa

A package containing explosives has been found at a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Austria.

As it turned out on Saturday, it could have "potentially caused great damage," the police reported. The service took place on Friday evening in Kalsdorf, to the south of the southern city of Graz. Around 50 people were in attendance.

The package was discovered in the entrance area of the building. The police arrived, cordoned off the area and recovered the package. The operation lasted all night because explosives experts feared that the parcel was dangerous and could only move it with extreme caution.

After a thorough investigation, a police spokesman said on Saturday: "It is an unconventional, homemade, but basically functional explosive device."

According to the police, state security was investigating.

There was no information on Saturday about possible perpetrators or the background to the incident.

Last year, there were already two incidents involving explosives at Jehovah's Witness organizations in Austria.