Germany: Suspected car bomb kills 1 in Berlin

A car explosion in Germany killed one person Tuesday, and the police reportedly suspect a bomb caused the blast. The Berlin police posted a picture of the mangled car on their official Twitter account. 

The explosion occurred when the man was driving his Volkswagen Passat car in the  Charlottenburg neighbourhood near the centre of Berlin at about 8 a.m. local time. The police said the blast took place "inside or on the vehicle."

"Our investigators are working on the assumption that it was an explosive device that caused this,"  deputy chief spokesman for Berlin police Carsten Mueller told the Associated Press. 

According to web portal the Local, which cited a report in Tagesspiegel, the driver of the Volswagen car had managed to get out of the vehicle after the explosion, but later succumbed to his injuries. Following the blast, the police warned Berlin residents to stay indoors but later lifted the warning after declaring the car was no longer dangerous. 

Germany has faced terror threats in recent months, with the national police warning of possible attacks by suicide bombers of the Islamic State group on New Year's Eve in December 2015. Last month, the German police conducted raids in Berlin and other parts of the country and arrested two Algerians suspected of having links with ISIS and threatening the country's security.