Man arrested amid police hunt over boy's killing in Germany

A man has been arrested during a German police search for a suspect over the killing of a nine-year-old boy.

Officers made the arrest after the man called them from a fast food stall in the western German city of Herne on Thursday evening, a police spokesman says.

Gunnar Wortmann said the man also informed police about a fire in an apartment, where officers later found two bodies.

He said police cannot confirm the arrested man is 19-year-old Marcel Hesse, who has been sought since the killing of a neighbour's child in Herne on Monday.

Authorities said Hesse had posted boasting pictures of the boy's body on a web forum.

A nationwide manhunt for him was launched on Tuesday.

AP