A pistol on the toilet of an ICE train has triggered a major deployment at Frankfurt Airport's long-distance train station. Around 700 people had to leave the train.

A cleaner of the railway had discovered the weapon on board the train on the way from Dortmund to Munich, said a spokesman for the Federal Police in Frankfurt. The ICE was then stopped at the airport train station and cleared.

The weapon was not loaded, said the spokesman for the Federal Police. How she got to the toilet was at first completely unclear. To be on the safe side, the entire train will now be checked with the help of explosive detection dogs.