MY KOLKATA EDUGRAPH
ADVERTISEMENT
Regular-article-logo Sunday, 25 May 2025

Doing much better, says Bartra

One arrested in connection with Dortmund blasts

Reuters Published 13.04.17, 12:00 AM
Borussia Dortmund's
Roman Buerki wears the
No. 5 shirt worn by
Marc Bartra

Karlsruhe/ Duesseldorf: Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra said he is "doing much better" after suffering a wrist and arm injury when the team bus was attacked with explosives on Tuesday shortly before the start of the Champions League clash with AS Monaco.

Bartra, who joined Dortmund for $8.49 million from Barcelona at the start of the season, was operated on for a broken wrist and shrapnel in his arm.

"Hello everybody! As you can see I am doing much better," the 26-year-old Spanish international wrote on Instagram.

The accompanying photo showed Bartra bandaged up most of his right arm and around his left wrist. He was giving the thumbs-up sign.

"Thank you everybody for all your support and your messages! All my strength to my team mates, supporters and fans."

Meanwhile, German authorities arrested a suspected Islamist on Wednesday in connection with what Chancellor Angela Merkel called a 'despicable' attack.

Merkel said she was appalled by Tuesday evening's incident, in which three explosions went off as the Dortmund bus made its way to the Champions League match against Monaco.

Ralf Jaeger, interior minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia which includes Dortmund, said the investigation was looking "in all directions", and it was unclear if one or several attackers were involved.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which handles probes into suspected terrorism, said the explosive devices had contained strips of metal.

Spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said investigators had found three letters near the scene, all with the same content suggesting a possible Islamist motive.

She said the letters referred to the use of Tornado reconnaissance planes in Syria, which Germany has deployed as part of the military campaign against Islamic State, and also called for the closure of the U.S. military base at Ramstein in western Germany.

Marc Bartra

Investigators had identified two suspects from the "Islamist scene", searched their apartments and detained one man, she said.

The blasts smashed windows on the bus carrying the players to the stadium.

"We all agree that we are dealing with a despicable act," Merkel said at a business event in the western town of Allendorf.

"We were all appalled yesterday when we heard about the attack on the bus with the players of BVB in Dortmund," she added, praising Dortmund fans for offering accommodation to AS Monaco fans after the postponement.

European soccer's governing body, Uefa, said there had been no specific intelligence regarding any threat to any of Wednesday's Champions League fixtures, which also include a match in Spain between Atletico Madrid and Leicester City.

UEFA "is reviewing the security arrangements for the matches and security procedures will be enhanced accordingly wherever needed," it said, asking supporters to allow extra time for the possibility of enhanced checks.

Police in Munich said they were deploying an additional 80 officers and strengthening security around hotels and key routes for the match there.

The blasts revived memories of Islamist militant attacks in Paris in November 2015 whose targets included a stadium where France were playing Germany in a soccer friendly.

Security is among the issues at the heart of Germany's parliamentary election on Sept. 24, a tight battle in which Merkel is running for a fourth term.

In December, a Tunisian man killed 12 people when he ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market.

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT