Friday, 10 July 2026: Investigation following explosions, tram accident at Südplatz, giant fountain spraying water again

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A café in the city centre and a pizzeria in Lindenau were damaged in quick succession during the night by explosions caused by explosives. The police are investigating but are keeping tight-lipped about further details. We spoke to the owner of the pizzeria. A tram collided with a car on Südplatz this evening. And: The 23-metre-high giant fountain at NEO – the former Karstadt on Petersstraße – can finally be flowing again. The LZ summarises the key events in Leipzig and beyond on Friday, 10 July 2026.

Investigation following explosions in Leipzig

It is a scene of devastation. The torn awning hangs in tatters above the entrance to the restaurant “La Migliore Pizza” on Georg-Schwarz-Straße. The glass door to the restaurant is completely shattered. Shards of glass are everywhere. The explosion was so violent that it scattered glass shards throughout the dining area and also knocked over some furniture. The huge bang went off at around 3.15 am – in the middle of the night.

“My neighbour rang me: ‘Come here, everything’s smashed at your shop!’’,” the shop owner, Osama Abdullah, tells the L-IZ. It appears to have been only small, but evidently highly destructive, explosive devices that were detonated outside his premises. “It all happened in perhaps 20 seconds,” says the pizzeria owner. Then it was all over – and destroyed. You can sense just how much the events of that night are still gnawing at him. And he himself isn’t quite sure yet what to do next. I ask him whether this incident frightens him. “Of course I’m scared,” admits Osama Abdullah. “But I’ll get through this!”

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Georg-Schwarz-Straße was completely closed to traffic between Uhlandstraße and Spittastraße whilst the police were securing evidence. As a result, tram line 7 was only able to resume service along this key route in the old western part of the city around midday. Yet this was by no means the only incident involving explosives that night (as reported by the L-IZ). Less than half an hour after the incident in Altlindenau, the window of a café in the city centre had also been blown to smithereens. Here, too, a high explosive force had apparently been used – one powerful enough to damage even a solid wooden bench.

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The police are now engaged in extensive investigative work. New information from the police headquarters is not expected until Monday at the earliest. “We are still at the very beginning of the investigation; after all, this only happened last night,” said press spokesman Chris Graupner, asking for understanding. “The evidence now needs to be analysed and assessed. This isn’t just a bit of graffiti where you can simply measure it up and take a photo.” Furthermore, for tactical reasons relating to the investigation, they are withholding details of the inquiry. It is therefore not possible at present to comment on whether the two explosives offences are linked.

There is only one point on which the police are relatively certain: the third explosion that night is probably unrelated to the other two: Shortly before midnight, an 18-year-old had been handling fireworks on Eutritzscher Straße and, when they detonated, sustained such serious injuries that he even lost a hand.

Tram accident at Südplatz

A tram on line 11 collided with a car this evening on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße near Südplatz. A local resident told us they heard the crash at around 7.15 pm. Several people immediately rushed to the crashed car to help the driver. Just a few minutes later, the emergency services arrived on the scene.

A blessing in disguise: the driver was able to get out of the car unaided – but was then placed on a stretcher and given further treatment by the emergency services. Traffic has since been restored at the scene of the accident.

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Giant fountain spraying again

Twenty years ago, it made its first grand appearance – and quickly won the hearts of the people of Leipzig: the 23-metre-high giant fountain in what was then the Karstadt department store on Petersstraße. But when the department store closed its doors for good in 2019, the water spectacle also came to an end. It almost came to an end for good. But when ec Advisors GmbH began renovating the building on behalf of the owner from 2021 onwards, a survey revealed a clear desire among the public for the fountain to continue flowing.

And so it was Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung (SPD) himself who finally symbolically switched the water feature back on at the end of November 2025. But the joy did not last all that long at first. Due to necessary flooring work, the fountain had to be switched off again for a few months. But that too is now behind us. Today, the company announced that “the fountain can now flow once again without restriction and delight visitors with its impressive water and light displays”.

The popular fountain inside the NEO – as the building is now called – even has its own small website. The current times at which the water and light shows begin can also be found there. At present, these are at 12.30 pm and 6 pm, Monday to Saturday.

The fountain, now flowing once more, at the NEO on Petersstraße. Photo: ec Advisors GmbH

What the LZ reported on today:

The City Council met: The demand from Leipzig residents for a reduced dog licence fee for microchipping has completely taken the city by surprise.

The City Council met: Will planning for the “Kino der Jugend” finally get underway now?

Hello Leipzig: Here’s how Friday, 10 July 2026 begins

Feasibility study: Line 10 could run via Travniker Straße to Wahren S-Bahn station

Coburg in a day: With Luther on the Crown of Franconia

What else was important:

The controversial austerity package for statutory health insurance was passed in the Bundestag today, with the votes of the Black-Red coalition alone. The aim is to prevent increases in contributions. However, this means that insured people face, amongst other things, higher co-payments for medicines. The Bundesrat has also already approved these plans.

On a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Munich, a window pane shattered shortly after take-off. The resulting draught threatened to pull the passenger sitting there out of the window. An eyewitness reported that, after his head and shoulder had already protruded out of the window, fellow passengers managed to pull the man back inside the aircraft.

Fans in Düsseldorf caused riots out of disappointment at Morocco’s elimination from the World Cup. Last night, the last African team still in the tournament lost 0–2 to France. This was followed by rioting: traffic signs were torn down, containers were overturned, and there were firecrackers and even Molotov cocktails. Three police officers were injured and two fans were taken into custody.