Germany parcel bomb blackmailer demands millions in bitcoins

A blackmailer whose parcel bomb sparked the evacuation of a German Christmas market last week demanded 10 million euros ($11.8 million) worth of bitcoins, a news report said Wednesday.

The German-language message -- delivered as a link to a matrix barcode, and demanding an untraceable payment in the virtual currency -- was addressed to the parcel delivery service DHL, reported Bild daily.

The bomb, containing explosive powder from Polish fireworks, nails and screws, was received by a pharmacy adjacent to the Christmas market last Friday.

The package made a hissing sound when it was opened but failed to detonate.

Police, on high alert one year after a jihadist attack on a Berlin Christmas market killed 12 people, quickly cleared the adjacent festive market in the city of Potsdam near the capital.

Police are searching for one or more suspects in Berlin or its surrounding Brandenburg state, after a DHL parcel believed to have come from the same source caught fire last month when it was opened in another city in the same eastern region.

The blackmailers have threatened to send more parcels in the pre-Christmas season unless DHL pays, police warned last week, calling on Germans to remain vigilant.