German investigators hunted Wednesday for possible
suspects responsible for three explosions that rocked Dortmund football team's
bus, injuring a player.
The assault, described by Dortmund city's police chief
as a "targeted attack" against the team, shook German football ahead
of crucial Champion League ties this week.
Investigations will focus on a letter claiming
responsibility for the attack that was found close to the site of the blasts.
"The letter claims responsibility for what
happened," prosecutor Sandra Luecke said late Tuesday, telling journalists
that "its authenticity is being verified".
German authorities have held off from describing it as
a terror attack, saying that it is too early to determine the motive.
But Germany has been on high alert since a series of
jihadist attacks last year, including the Christmas market truck assault in
Berlin in December that claimed 12 lives.
The explosives detonated minutes after Borussia
Dortmund's team bus pulled away Tuesday from the squad's hotel and headed for
their quarter-final, first-leg, tie against Monaco.
Spanish international Marc Bartra underwent surgery on
a broken wrist after he was hit by flying glass.
The quarter-final match will now be played on
Wednesday evening, just hours before another Champions League clash in Germany
between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
"We are assuming that they were a targeted attack
against the Dortmund team," said the western German city's police chief
Gregor Lange, adding however that it did not amount to an organised terror
assault.
Shocked players
The bus had set off for the Borussia stadium about 10
kilometres (six miles) away when "three explosive charges detonated"
police said.
The explosives, which went off shortly after 7:00 pm
(1700 GMT), were hidden in a hedge and were set off as the bus passed.
The blast shattered the bus windows and the vehicle
was burned on the right hand side.
"The bus turned onto the main road, when there
was a huge noise -- a big explosion," Dortmund's Swiss goalkeeper Roman
Burki told Swiss media.
"After the bang, we all crouched down in the bus.
Anyone who could, threw himself on the floor.
"We did not know if more would come."
Burki said Bartra was "hit by splinters of broken
glass". Dortmund's press spokesman said the 26-year-old had broken the
radius bone in his right wrist.
The club said other players were safe and there was no
danger inside the Signal Iduna Park stadium.
"The whole team is in a state of shock, you can't
get pictures like that out of your head," Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke
said.
"I hope the team will be in a position to be able
to compete tomorrow on the pitch.
"In a crisis situation like this, Borussia pulls
together."
'Hard to absorb'
Germany's best-selling Bild daily quoted anonymous
sources saying that investigators were hunting for a likely getaway car used by
the attacker.
The vehicle had foreign car plates, said the
newspaper, which also added that police believed the explosives were a
particular type of pipe-bomb.
The announcement that the game was postponed was only
made to the stunned stadium about 15 minutes before Tuesday's match was due to
start.
Dortmund's president Reinhard Rauball said he believed
the team would be ready for Wednesday's game.
"The players will be able to push this out of
their minds and be in a position to put in their usual performances," he
said.
"The worst thing would be if whoever committed
this attack was now able to get to affect them through it."
But ex-Dortmund player Steffen Freund, who won the
Champions League with Borussia in 1997, said there would be scars.
"When there has been a direct attack on the team
bus, then it's not just forgotten by Wednesday," said the 47-year-old.
"Mentally and psychologically that is hard to
absorb, it's a lot to deal with."
Tightened security
Dortmund police said security would be tightened at
Wednesday's match, with a major deployment of officers to "ensure that the
game is played safely".
Separately, security was also being tightened at the
Bayern-Real tie in Munich.
Bild said both teams' hotels were under heavy police
guard, and the squads' buses driven to a safe location.
Germany has been on a high alert since last December's
attack in Berlin, when a Tunisian national hijacked a truck and rammed it into
a crowd, killing 12 people.
The German national team, which included some Dortmund
players, was also in the Stade de France in Paris when jihadists attacked the
French capital in November 2015, leaving 130 dead.
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