Suspect arrested after attack on Dortmund team bus
German police have rounded up two suspects for the three explosions which damaged Borussia Dortmund's team bus before a match originally scheduled for Tuesday. One suspect has been arrested.
"Two suspects from the Islamist spectrum have become the focus of our investigation. Both of their apartments were searched, and one of the two has been detained," a spokeswoman for Germany's federal prosecutor, Frauke Koehler, told BBC News.
The incident in Dortmund's Hochstem district occurred at around 7:15 p.m. local time (1:15 p.m. ET) - not long after the bus left the team hotel - and about six miles (10 kilometres) from the Westfalenstadion, where Dortmund was set to face Monaco in a highly anticipated Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The bus was pictured with shattered windows and Marc Bartra required surgery on his wrist due to being hit by glass. The match was then postponed until Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. ET).
Related: Dortmund's Bartra thanks fans for support following bus attack
"In such a crisis situation, all of Borussia will pull together," said Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke, as quoted by BBC Sport.
"The team and coaches were shocked. Now we must channel it in some way."
He added: "We want to show that terror and hatred can never dictate our actions."
German police made one arrest as they investigate two separate statements with terrorism links. One was a written note found near the scene where Isis claims responsibility for an attack, according to reports in newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung recited by the Guardian's Philip Oltermann, while another being circulated online sees an anti-fascist group profess its liability, German news agency DPA understands.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
"These explosives contained metal shards - we can be happy that nothing worse happened," said a spokesman for the Bundeskriminalamt, reports The Telegraph's Ed Malyon.
"One of the metal shards in the explosive remained lodged in a seat headrest. It could have been worse."
Sascha Fligge, Dortmund's spokesman, described the disturbing incident near the L'arrivee Hotel & Spa:
Marcel Schmelzer said to me, "Why is someone throwing a stone again on game day?" We had that happen, I think, during an away game in Cologne that a big stone hit the window. But it transpired quickly for the players - especially because Marc Bartra loudly called for attention for obvious reasons - that it wasn't a stone.
The players had quite different reactions, some threw themselves to the floor, others simply ducked and everyone was totally shocked.
As far as I know, Manni (Sven) Bender looked out of the window and saw one of the detonations in the corner of his eye. He signalled to the bus driver to drive on as quickly as possible.
In the wake of the explosions, UEFA has heightened security around the remaining quarter-final matches. Around 30 police wearing bulletproof vests were called to the Munich hotel where Real Madrid is staying ahead of its last-eight meeting with Bayern Munich.