Police: Player injured after explosions near German soccer team bus
DORTMUND, Germany -- A player for German soccer team Borussia Dortmund was injured following explosions near the team bus ahead of the Champions League quarterfinal match against Monaco, local police say.
North Rhine-Westphalia police spokesman Gunnar Wortmann told The Associated Press Tuesday that there were “three explosions near the team bus as they left the hotel to go to the stadium” and that “there was one player injured inside and damage to a window.”
Dortmund said the player was Spanish defender Marc Bartra and that he was in a hospital. Bartra was injured on the arm and hand, according to the team’s Chief Executive Hans-Joachim Watzke. He said the injuries are “nothing life-threatening.”
Dortmund said the player was “in safety” and that “there is no danger in and around the stadium.”
Investigators do not yet know the source of the explosions, according to Dortmund police spokeswoman Nina Vogt.
Borussia Dortmund said its match against Monaco -- the first of two legs between the two sides in Europe’s premier club competition -- has been postponed until Wednesday.
Stadium spokesman Norbert Dickel informed fans of the cancellation, saying that “there is no reason for panic here at the stadium.” Inside the packed stadium, supporters of Monaco, which plays in the French league, chanted “Dortmund, Dortmund” in sympathy for the German side.
Police say the explosions took place in the run-up to the match at around 7 p.m. local time.
Dortmund is in western Germany, in the densely populated Ruhr industrial region.
