Soccer Player Injured in Explosions at Team Bus in German City of Dortmund Player Marc Bartra in hospital after suffering injuries; police describe ‘serious attack’ that could have cost lives By Anton Troianovski and Joshua Robinson
https://www.wsj.com/articles/one-person-injured-in-explosion-at-soccer-team-bus-in-german-city-of-dortmund-1491935599
BERLIN—Three explosions hit a soccer team’s bus just ahead of a major game in the German city of Dortmund on Tuesday, seriously injuring one player in what authorities described as a targeted attack on one of Europe’s most prominent sports clubs.
Officials said that that three bombs hidden in a hedge went off as the bus pulled out of the Borussia Dortmund team’s hotel in a suburban neighborhood to carry the players 6 miles to their stadium for a quarterfinal game in the most prestigious tournament in club soccer.
Marc Bartra, a Spanish defender on the team’s roster, had surgery after injuries to a hand and arm as a result of the blast that shattered the bus’s windows, officials said.
“It’s not anything that is life-threatening in any way,” Borussia Dortmund Chief Executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said. “The team is, of course, completely in shock.”
As the police combed the crime scene Tuesday night, they found a letter claiming responsibility for the attack, Dortmund prosecutor Sandra Lücke said. She declined to provide more details about the letter or to comment about possible motives.
“We must assume that this was a targeted attack on the BVB team,” Dortmund Police Chief Gregor Lange said, using Borussia Dortmund’s acronym.
Borussia Dortmund’s scheduled quarterfinal game against AS Monaco in the UEFA Champions League later Tuesday evening was postponed to Wednesday.
A police spokesman said later in the evening that while authorities were still analyzing what exactly caused the blasts, their initial analysis showed it was a “serious attack” that could have cost lives.
Comments are closed.
