German police probe explosive packages addressed to grocery companies

Karlsruhe, Germany (dpa) – German authorities are looking for suspects and a motive in a case that has seen two packages addressed to grocery businesses exploding and a third being defused just in time over the space of just a few days.

On Tuesday, an employee at a drinks manufacturer in Eppelheim suffered an acoustic shock when he opened a package with an explosive device in it.

A day later, three people were injured by an explosive package at Lidl headquarters in Neckarsulm.

Just hours later, authorities were able to defuse another package at an airport in Munich that was addressed to a grocery business in the southern state of Bavaria.

An investigative source told dpa the latter package had been addressed to Hipp, a baby food manufacturer.

All three items are thought to have been dropped off at a post office by one person, the source said.

A spokesman for the criminal police in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said early Friday that a special task force had been appointed to look into the incidents, but that no suspects or a motive had yet been found.