German public prosecutors have filed charges against a 15-year-old Dutch national accused of throwing an improvised explosive device into a café in the Bockenheim district of Frankfurt, an attack that investigators say could have killed five people.
The minor is charged with attempted murder in five cases, as well as causing an explosive detonation and committing particularly serious arson. He is suspected of having acted on the orders of a criminal gang that allegedly sent him from the Netherlands to carry out the bombing.
As reported by Bild, the attack took place on Aug. 5, 2025, at Café Omonia. Prosecutors say the teenager threw a so-called ball bomb, combined with several liters of accelerant, through the café’s open door. The device detonated immediately, and the premises were engulfed in flames within seconds.
Several guests were inside the café at the time. Prosecutors said that only the actions of the café owner prevented fatalities. He reportedly kept the escape route clear for four guests, allowing all of them to flee the building. They escaped “largely unharmed,” according to the public prosecutor’s office.
The suspect was arrested in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene and remains in custody.
Due to the age of the accused, no further description has been made public. It is not known whether he has a migration background, only that he holds Dutch citizenship.
Investigators believe the crime was carried out on a contract basis. The public prosecutor’s office said the teenager was “recruited in the Netherlands beforehand” and promised payment for carrying out the attack.
“He is said to have been transported from the Netherlands to the Rhine-Main region for the specific execution of the crime and given targeted guidance,” added Chief Public Prosecutor Dominik Mies, as cited by Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that a recent series of explosions at several businesses and residential buildings in Frankfurt, Offenbach, and Taunusstein could be linked to organized crime and international drug gangs infiltrating Germany.
“According to security authorities, criminal networks, particularly in the Netherlands, recruit young couriers or messengers who undertake dangerous missions for relatively low pay. This pattern has been known for years from the structures of the so-called Mocro Mafia, which is increasingly extending its influence to German cities as well,” it noted.
The motive for the attack, however, remains unclear, and investigators have not yet identified the individuals believed to be behind the recruitment of the teen.
The case will ultimately be heard by the juvenile chamber at Frankfurt Regional Court.
