Dortmund player hurt by explosion
Three explosions went off near the team bus of Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s top soccer clubs, as it headed to a Champions League quarterfinal match Tuesday night. One of Dortmund’s players was injured.
Police said they were working on the assumption that the blasts were directed at the Dortmund team and caused by “serious explosive devices,” which might have been hidden in a hedge near a car park.
The explosions happened as the team was departing its hotel for a first-leg match against Monaco. The game was called off shortly before kickoff and rescheduled for Wednesday.
A letter claiming responsibility was found near the site of the blasts, prosecutor Sandra Luecke told a late-evening news conference. She said investigators are examining the authenticity of what was written in the letter, but wouldn’t reveal more about its contents, citing the ongoing investigation.
The case is being investigated as an attempted homicide, Luecke said.
“We had to assume, and assumed right from the start, that this was a targeted attack against the team of Borussia Dortmund,” said Dortmund Police Chief Gregor Lange. Investigators are not excluding any possible angles in their investigation, though the “concrete background” to the blasts remains unclear, he said.
There were three explosions near the Dortmund bus as the team left the L’Arrivee Hotel and Spa on the outskirts of the western city of Dortmund for the stadium, around 6 miles away, at 7:15 p.m. local time, police said.
A window on the bus was damaged and Spanish defender Marc Bartra was injured. Club spokesman Sascha Fligge said Bartra had an operation late Tuesday for a broken bone in his right wrist and to remove “foreign objects” from his arm.
Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki said the team bus had just pulled out of the hotel driveway when an explosion — a “huge bang” — happened and sent glass flying.
Bartra was hit by shards from the broken back window, he added. Players ducked for cover, wondering whether there would be more explosions. Juventus routs Barca: Paulo Dybala outshone Lionel Messi by scoring two goals to help Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal in Turin, Italy.
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