An explosion that destroyed a car and killed the driver in Berlin during rush hour traffic was probably caused by a bomb, police have said.
The explosion occurred at about 8am (7am GMT) on Tuesday on a busy street in the western of Charlottenberg leading into the heart of the German capital.
Photographs from the scene show the wreckage of a Berlin-registered silver Volkswagen Passat estate, with its windows shattered and its front end smashed in, about half a mile from the Victory Column monument.
“The explosion occurred inside or on the vehicle,” said Carsten Müller, deputy chief spokesman for Berlin police. He said investigators were working on the assumption that an explosive device inside or on the vehicle caused the blast.
Detectives were trying to identify the man and could not immediately provide further details about the vehicle, Müller added.
In recent years, there has been a spate of violence in the city linked to biker gangs involved in the drugs trade.
Müller would not speculate on any possible background to the crime. Police were looking into all possible scenarios, he said.