Police probe launched after ‘seven poisoned at German university’

Milk cartons and water containers appear to have been contaminated with liquid that had powerful smell, police say

Seven people have been poisoned at at the Technical University Darmstadt, in Germany (AFP via Getty Images)

Police in Germany have launched an investigation after seven people at a university received medical treatment after showing symptoms of poisoning.

Staff at the Technical University in Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt, experienced medical problems on Monday after having food or drink from a kitchen on the university’s Lichtwiese campus.

Milk cartons and water containers appeared to have been contaminated with a liquid that had a powerful smell, police said.

Authorities said that they had searched other university buildings as a precaution but found nothing else linked to the suspected poisoning. They also said no one else had come forward with symptoms.

Police said in a statement that they are doing everything to “identify the culprit or culprits” and that, as far as they are aware, there is no longer any “acute danger”.

Prosecutor Robert Hartmann said that while authorities believe the contamination may have been deliberate, they currently have no information pointing to any specific person as a possible culprit.

He said that the substance has been identified, but prosecutors will not publicly name it for now in view of the ongoing investigation.

One person was affected “relatively severely” by the poisoning, but their life is no longer in danger, Mr Hartmann said.

“We are shocked by the apparent crime that took place at our university,” the university’s president, Tanja Bruehl, said in a statement.

No suspects have yet been identified or motive established for the suspected poisoning.

Additional reporting by AP