Crowd delays Nazi guard trial

The trial of accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk was delayed on Monday as large numbers of people including relatives of Holocaust victims tried to gain access, said sources.

The trial, likely to be the last major court case dealing with the Holocaust, had been scheduled to start in Munich in southern Germany at 10.00 am (0900 GMT).

But organisers were overwhelmed by the large number of people, including relatives and large number of journalists trying to get into the courthouse.

Sources at the scene said an ambulance arrived at the courthouse at around 9.30 am but it was unclear if Demjanjuk, who his family say is gravely ill, was inside.

Demjanjuk is charged with assisting in the murder of 27,900 Jews and others at Sobibor, one of a network of camps erected by Hitler's Germany in Eastern Europe during World War II with the sole purpose of mass extermination.