Berlin explosives expert visits site of fire

Berlin police, assisted by the German military, have inspected a police explosives disposal site in the city's Grunewald forest, following severe explosions and a fire.

Fire services spokesman Thomas Kirstein said on Friday.

He said an explosives expert had toured the site using an armoured recovery vehicle to make an initial assessment.

The results of the inspection would now be evaluated, and a decision taken on whether firefighters would be allowed to access the site.

When motorways and rail lines in the area would again be released for use.

An armoured fire engine from a private company was deployed in the woodland near the site where flames and glowing embers could still be seen on Friday.

Unmanned devices were to be used later to enter the site to spray water, Kirstein said.

The fire broke out anew in woodland to the south of the disposal site on Friday, with clouds of smoke passing over the Zehlendorf residential area of the city.

Light rain provided some relief to the 150 firefighters deployed to the scene southwest of Berlin.

Some 30 tons of military equipment and munitions had been stored at the site, measuring some 80,000 square metres, according to police information.

The material included munitions left over from World War II, which are still found regularly by construction workers in the city, and confiscated fireworks scheduled for destruction.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday following a series of detonations.

The immediate cause of the explosions remained unclear.