Blasts hit Borussia Dortmund team bus, leaving player hurt

[webfact]

Blasts hit Borussia Dortmund team bus, leaving player hurt

By Kai Pfaffenbach

 

Football Soccer - Borussia Dortmund v AS Monaco - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final First Leg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - 11/4/17 The Borussia Dortmund team bus is seen after an explosion near their hotel before the game Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach Livepic

 

DORTMUND (Reuters) - German police said "an attack using serious explosives" was launched on the Borussia Dortmund soccer team's bus on Tuesday, leaving one player injured.

 

Defender Marc Bartra was taken to hospital. The bus was hit by three blasts from devices planted in bushes at the roadside close to the team's hotel, as the vehicle made its way to a quarter-final first leg Champions League game at home to AS Monaco. The match was called off and rescheduled for Wednesday.

 

"The bus turned into the main street, when there was a huge boom, a real explosion," Sky television quoted Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki as saying.

 

"I was sitting in the back row next to Marc Bartra, hit by fragments ... after the bang, we all ducked."

 

Dortmund police said in a message on Twitter: "After the initial investigation, we assume that this was an attack using serious explosives."

 

The stadium, which is the largest in Germany and holds more than 80,000 spectators, emptied quickly and without incident.

 

"The explosive devices were placed outside the bus. Several windows were broken," a police spokesman said. The incident was in the Hoechsten district in the south of the city of Dortmund.

 

Bartra, 26, joined Dortmund for eight million euros ($8.5 million) last year from Barcelona, after coming through the Catalan club's youth system. He has made 12 appearances for the Spanish national team.

 

Borussia Dortmund's managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke was quoted as telling Sky: "The whole team is in a state of shock."

 

Police added: "Currently there is no evidence of a threat to the visitors at the stadium."

 

AS Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic told Croatian newspaper 24sata: "We are currently in the stadium, in a safe place, but the feeling's horrible."

 

Dortmund and UEFA later said that the match would go ahead on Wednesday at 1645 GMT (1845 local time).

 

(Additional reporting by Brian Homewood, Ed Dove, Toby Davis, Tom Hayward, Pritha Sarkar and Paul Carrel; Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Andrew Roche)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-12

[JemJem]

Let me guess. Muslims again? 

[Basil B]

I was thinking some Loony with fireworks at first, no reports of injuries outside the bus.

 

But there again more likely some radicalized Muslim converted drug addict with a long criminal history. 

[sawadee1947]

There are even Christians or Buddhists who can go crazy.

[darksidedog]

Given that the bus was clearly the target, I feel someone who dislikes Dortmund F.C.and maybe betting on Monaco, is a far more probable candidate than some random Muslim.

[4737 Carlin]

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Given that the bus was clearly the target, I feel someone who dislikes Dortmund F.C.and maybe betting on Monaco, is a far more probable candidate than some random Muslim.

Yes, that's far more likely. 

[7by7]

Borussia Dortmund attack: Police investigate Islamist link

Quote

German police are investigating a possible Islamic extremist link to the bombing of the Borussia Dortmund football team's bus, German media say.

A letter found near the scene references the Berlin Christmas market attack and military operations in Syria.

It is not yet clear if the letter is genuine.

 

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, JemJem said:

Let me guess. Muslims again? 

More likely to be Islamic terrorists but I guess you cannot tell the difference

[alocacoc]

Borussia Dortmund attack: Police investigate Islamist link

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39575503

[tubby johnson]

Yet another islamic cultural event? 

[balo]

Confirmed another crazy muslin . 

[7by7]

7 hours ago, 7by7 said:

Borussia Dortmund attack: Police investigate Islamist link

 

That report has been updated since i posted that link.

 

Police are now looking at other possible perpetrators.

Quote

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said the letter found nearby began with the phrase "in the name of Allah", and mentioned Germany's use of Tornado jets in the coalition forces fighting so-called Islamic State (IS).........

 

it is possible the perpetrators are deliberately trying to mislead the investigation, Sueddeutsche Zeitung added, saying that an analysis of the letter by experts was under way.

A second letter was circulating online, claiming an anti-fascist group had carried out the attack, Germany's DPA news agency reported.

The second letter claimed the attack was motivated by the club's alleged tolerance for racists and right-wing fans. The club has clamped down on such fans in the past........

 

Despite the apparent claim of an Islamist motive, the attack does not have much in common with previous such attacks, says the BBC's correspondent in Berlin, Damien McGuinness.

The explosives were not designed to cause maximum damage in a crowd - or to target the stadium itself, which is several kilometres away.

Our correspondent says it could be an attack by right-wing extremists. Borussia Dortmund has been plagued recently with violent hooliganism.

A recent clampdown led to stadium bans, which then resulted in death threats in February for one manager, he says.

 Personally, I'll wait until the police have announced definite suspects rather than jumping to premature assumptions.

[Flustered]

How many people have to die as a result of Muslim terrorists before the world wakes up to the fact that Islam is a religion 0f dominance and violence?

[7by7]

German police have arrested, but not yet charged, an Iraqi national with links to ISIS.

 

Borussia Dortmund attack: Iraqi suspect 'linked to IS'

 

Meanwhile, UEFA have been criticised over arranging the postponed game so soon after the attack.

 

Borussia Dortmund: Thomas Tuchel says club 'ignored' over Monaco tie

[DM07]

Oh...look...it seems, this had nothing to do with Muslims!

Police today arrested a guy, who wanted to profit from Dortmunds loss at the stock- market!

Hmmmmm...I wonder, if we will read some "Ooops...I am sorry "- messages from the Muslim- haters on this forum...and I won't hold my breath!

[ilostmypassword]

On 4/13/2017 at 0:01 AM, Flustered said:

How many people have to die as a result of Muslim terrorists before the world wakes up to the fact that Islam is a religion 0f dominance and violence?

Never turn your back on those Muslim ladies selling rotis.

[7by7]

Borussia Dortmund bombs: 'Speculator' charged with bus attack

Quote

Police in Germany have charged a man suspected of being behind an attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus.

Rather than having links to radical Islamism, he was a market trader hoping to make money if the price of shares in the team fell, prosecutors say.

The 28-year-old, identified only as Sergej W, was staying in the team's hotel in a room overlooking the street where the explosion took place.