German authorities say they have thwarted an arson attack at Berlin's busy central train station after railway employees discovered an explosive device set to detonate.
Federal police said Monday the rail employees discovered several bottles of flammable liquid attached to a fuse in a tunnel less than 200 meters from the main station building.
Similar devices were used in a separate arson attack earlier Monday just west of Berlin, along a high-speed link to the northern city of Hamburg. The attack caused enough damage to bring train service temporarily to a halt, leading to major travel delays.
A leftist group claimed responsibility for the earlier attack to protest Germany's military deployment in Afghanistan.