Bomb blasts in Germany near Borussia Dortmund bus

http://news.sky.com/story/borussia-dortmund-three-explosions-near-german-football-team-bus-10833968

Three explosions have gone off near the Borussia Dortmund team bus in Germany.

Spanish international Marc Bartra was taken to hospital after being injured and some of the vehicle's windows were broken.

He was said to have suffered a wounded hand after being hit by shards of glass.

Other players in the German side are thought to have been unhurt.

The blasts happened as the vehicle was leaving the team hotel in Dortmund ahead of the side's Champions League match tonight.

The explosions took place 10km from the Westfalenstadion stadium, where the team was due to face Monaco in the quarter-finals.

The game has now been postponed until Wednesday.

Borussia Dortmund said there was no danger at the stadium, where around 80,000 people would have been expected tonight.

It is not known what caused the blasts.

North Rhine-Westphalia police spokesman Gunnar Wortmann said there were "three explosions near the team bus as they left the hotel to go to the stadium".

He added that "there was one player injured inside and damage to a window".

Police said in a statement: "In the run-up to the Champions League game between BVB (Dortmund) and AS Monaco, there was just after 7pm tonight an explosion close to the BVB team bus."

"According to what we currently know, the wheels of the bus (totally or partly) burst and one person was injured.

"It is not yet possible to say exactly what the explosion was or exactly where something exploded."

More follows...

Let's hope Ma Merkel's party guests haven't brought IEDs to Europe.

Sky:

Police said the devices may have been hidden in a hedge near a parking area.

Mr Watzke said he understood the blasts were by the exit of the hotel and happened as the bus was passing.

http://news.sky.com/story/borussia-dortmund-team-bus-attack-police-probing-islamist-link-10834285

A letter left at the scene of the Borussia Dortmund team bus attack reportedly links it to German involvement in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

It also mentions the Berlin Christmas market attack carried out by an IS-inspired terrorist in 2016, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The letter, reportedly written in German, began: "In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful."

The newspaper, quoting security sources, said detectives were looking into the possibility that Tuesday night's attack may have been carried out by Islamist militants.

It also said it might be a deliberate attempt by the attackers to mislead detectives.

The letter claiming responsibility for the blasts was found near the team coach and its authenticity is being verified, according to German federal prosecutors who are spearheading the investigation.

Police are also examining the authenticity of a second letter, according to German press agency dpa, which could have come from anti-fascists apparently claiming that the football club's soft approach towards neo-Nazi and racist fans was the motive behind the attack....etc.

The world is full of crazies.

Suspect bet against Dortmund then bombed its bus

BERLIN (AP) — A 28-year-old German-Russian citizen took out a five-figure loan to bet that Borussia Dortmund shares would drop, then bombed the soccer team's bus in an attack he tried to disguise as Islamic terrorism in a scheme to net millions, German officials said Friday.

The suspect, identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy laws, was arrested by a police tactical team early Friday near the southwestern city of Tuebingen, federal prosecutors said. "We are working on the assumption that the suspect is responsible for the attack against the team bus of Borussia Dortmund," prosecutors' spokeswoman Frauke Koehler told a news conference Friday.

She said the man came to the attention of investigators because he had made "suspicious options purchases" for shares in Borussia Dortmund, the only top-league German club listed on the stock exchange, on the same day as the April 11 attack. Link
https://www.mail.com/int/sports/soccer/5132442-germany-suspect-bet-dortmund-then-bombed-bus.html#.1258-stage-hero1-2
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How suspected bus bomber hoped to make millions

LONDON (AP) — As get-rich-quick plans go, it wasn't well thought out. The man accused of bombing the bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund soccer team allegedly hoped to make millions off an expected slump in the team's share price by using an obscure financial trade, a "put option." Link.
https://www.mail.com/int/sports/soccer/5133298-ap-explains-suspected-bus-bomber-hoped-to-millions.html#.1258-stage-hero1-3

So, not terrorism after all, just a German-Russion wanting to make a very big 'killing'. LL

Well, I suspect the people on the receiving end of the blast felt pretty terrorised, LL.

I hope it IS treated like a terrorist attack - one for financial gain.