Thread: Ambulance full of explosives found outside German stadium

Ambulance full of explosives found outside German stadium: report

A soccer stadium in Germany was evacuated over a bomb threat Tuesday, with unconfirmed reports saying that an ambulance full of explosives was found outside and that cops were holding a suspect at gunpoint.

The stadium in Hanover was cleared about 90 minutes before the scheduled kick-off of an exhibition match between Germany and the Netherlands.

The ambulance detail was reported by the German newspaper, Kreiszeitung.

Top German officials, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, had planned to attend the game in a show of defiance following last week’s terror attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.

As part of the bloodshed, three suspected ISIS suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France during a match attended by French President Francois Hollande.

http://nypost.com/2015/11/17/german-stadium/

France, Russia pummel ISIS stronghold

Hanover concert arena also evacuated

Chief of police says ‘there were plans for some kind of explosion’

Police have cancelled the friendly between Germany and Holland after the stadium in Hanover was evacuated on Tuesday when a suspicious object was found inside.

Hanover’s chief of police, Volker Kluwe, told German news agency DPA: “We have received concrete information that someone was planning to set off explosives inside the stadium.”

Police spokesman Joerg Hoffmeister told The Associated Press that everyone inside had to be evacuated after the as-yet unidentified object was found.

A concert venue in the city, the TUI-Arena, was also reported to have been evacuated ahead of performance by the Söhne Mannheims musical group.

The Hanover mayor, Stefan Schostok, told Bild: “Safety is paramount. This is a fear you will always have. I trust the police have made the right decision.

If a threat situation exists, then those steps must be taken.”

Announcements at the stadium in northern Germany advised people to go home in a calm manner, and that there was no danger to fear.

Most fans were still waiting outside when the order to evacuate came about an hour and a half before kick-off.

A statement later said fans should leave “quickly, but should go without panic back home.

Please go in small groups back home, it’s better this way.”

Police said in a brief statement that: “The visitors, who were already in the stadium at that time, were asked to leave the stadium without panicking.”

There were no signs of panic, with most fans seemingly accepting the decision with resignation.

The German team bus was redirected to a “safe place” after the match was called off according a German FA press officer.

Later, DW Sports was reporting that all trains moving away from the stadium were stopped and pedestrians were being asked to travel on foot away from the stadium as fast as possible.

An Associated Press reporter was not let into the HDI-Arena about two and a half hours before the kick-off. Fans were also held back.

Police later opened the doors and fans started coming in, however the stadiumwas then evacuated and the game called off.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several cabinet ministers were expected to attend the match, which comes four days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Two Dutch government ministers attending the match - Defence Minister Jeanine Hennes and Health and Sport Minister Edith Schippers - were on their way to the airport to return home.

The world champions had initially not wanted the game to go ahead after having played against France in Paris on Friday as a wave of attacks hit the city, killing 129 people.

The contingent of 80 Germans, including players, coaches and staff, then spentthe night holed up in the changing rooms of the Stade de France stadium as the attacks took place across the capital,

before leaving straight for the airport on Saturday morning.

But the players, coaches as well as the national football association then decided to go ahead with the game in a show of unity with the French.

This is the second friendly this week to be called off, after Belgium’s match against Spain, due to be played on Tuesday in Brussells, was also cancelled after a security alert.

Germany v Holland cancelled due to ?concrete plan? to cause explosion in stadium | Football | The Guardian

Turkey’s soccer coach ‘slams’ fans for booing Paris moment of silence and chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’

So this happened yesterday at a soccer match in NATO-ally Turkey:

However, there is some debate if the fans were actually booing the terrorists and honoring the victims:

As the debate rages, the post match comments of Turkey coach Fatih Terim bare paying attention to.

Terim publicly criticised the Turkey fans for their behaviour, delivering the following points to TV8:

We shouldn’t portray ourselves like this. When our fans act like that, we will have a hard time explaining ourselves to the rest of the world.

Why can’t we show just a minute of respect?

Booing the anthem, where’s that coming from? We are better than this. If this would have been done to us, we would be really upset.

If we don’t act like we did today, we can prevent sports from being sacrificed to terrorism.

We’ll update this post if we hear more either way.

Soccer fans in Turkey boo moment of silence for Paris twitchy.com