Germany vs. Netherlands Football friendly cancelled over bomb threat
The German police have called off a friendly football match between Germany and the Netherlands after receiving a bomb threat targeting the Hanover stadium.
“We had concrete evidence that someone wanted to set off an explosive device in the stadium,” Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe told German broadcaster ARD on Tuesday.
In a statement, the German police told thousands of football fans, who were already in the stadium about 90 minutes before kick-off, to “go straight home” and “stay calm.” The warning led to the evacuation of the arena and security forces began searching the stadium for possible bombs.
Meanwhile, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said at a late-night news conference that evidence of a planned attack became stronger as the game approached, and that the match was called off at his recommendation.
However, Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking at the same news conference, said no explosives had been discovered by then, and no arrests had been made.
Earlier in the day, the local newspaper kreiszeitung published an unconfirmed report that an ambulance packed with explosives had been found outside the stadium.
Referring to the kreiszeitung report, Pistorius noted that there was no confirmation of rumors that an explosive device was planted in an ambulance or another vehicle inside or outside the stadium.
The match, which was due to start at 20:45 local time (1945 GMT) in the 49,000-capacity HDI-Arena, was meant as a “symbol of freedom” after the Paris deadly attacks and was to be attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel along with several cabinet ministers.
At least 132 people were killed and 350 others injured after Daesh Takfiri terrorists struck several venues in the French capital Paris late on Friday.
Among the Paris attacks were three bomb explosions near Stade de France, the country's national stadium just north of the city, which left several people dead and wounded. At the time of the blasts, France and Germany were holding a friendly football match with French President Francis Holland in attendance.
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