News

Actions

Dortmund attack: Arrest made, terrorism suspected

Posted at 9:00 AM, Apr 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-12 09:55:35-04

German authorities suspect "terrorist involvement" in a bomb attack on the bus of the Borussia Dortmund soccer team and are investigating a possible radical Islamist link, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

The investigation is focused on two suspects from the "Islamist spectrum," spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said. Their homes have been searched and one has been temporarily detained, she said.

 

 

Three explosive devices shattered windows and injured a player on the Borussia Dortmund team bus Tuesday evening local time as the German squad was en route to its home Champions League match against AS Monaco.

The devices, which were hidden behind a bush, contained metal fragments and had a reach of 100 meters (109 yards), the prosecutor's office said.

Based on the type of detonator and explosive involved, German authorities assume "terrorist involvement" but the motives are unclear, Koehler said.

One of several claims of responsibility for the attack mentioned a demand for the withdrawal of German Tornado jets from Syria and the closure of the US Air Force's Ramstein air base in Germany.

The match, postponed in the wake of the attack, was rescheduled for Wednesday night.

Spanish defender Marc Bartra, 26, suffered injuries to an arm and hand, the team said. Bartra, who has played 29 games in all competitions for Dortmund this season, was treated at the scene and hospitalized.

The team later said Bartra was in surgery for a broken radius -- a bone in the forearm -- and for "bits of debris lodged in his hand." He will not play Wednesday.

"We hope that he will make a speedy recovery," Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer said on the team website. "The prevailing mood in the Black and Yellow camp seems to be to play the match tomorrow for Marc."