Sports is no exception to awful incidents. We often look to sports to be the one place to escape the fears of the world, whether its having an uneducated presidency, war or any other horrific worldly events, sports is usually a neutral and peaceful ground.
Today, three explosions hit a bus carrying Borussia Dortmund football team to their home match against Monaco. Unfortunately, this explosion happened with incident to player, Marc Bartra, who was taken to the hospital with an injured hand.
The club tweeted (in German) that the other players were safe and there was no danger in or around the stadium.
The first-leg match was postponed and will now be played on Wednesday at 18:45 local time (16:45 GMT).
Police said that “three explosive charges detonated” at Hoechsten outside the city at about 19:00 local time.
A statement on the North Rhine-Westphalia police Twitter site (in German) said that the first indications were that this was an “attack with serious explosives”.
Fans at the 80,000-capacity Signal Iduna Park were told to stay there until it was safe to leave. The stadium has now been evacuated, with police thanking the fans for their co-operation.
Borussia Dortmund said in a statement: “Shortly after the departure of the Borussia Dortmund team bus from the hotel to the stadium there was an incident. The bus has been damaged in two places. One person has been injured and is in hospital.”
The Dortmund Twitter page confirmed that Bartra, a 26-year-old defender, was the player hurt, and wished him a speedy recovery.
Dortmund CEO, had this to say,
“The whole team is in a state of shock, you can’t get pictures like that out of your head.”
He added: “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.”
No word on how this incident occurred. Prayers for a speedy recovery of mind and body to Borussia Dortmund.
