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Germany-Netherlands Match Canceled over Explosion Threat

Germany-Netherlands Match Canceled over Explosion Threat
folder_openGermany access_time8 years ago
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Local Editor

German police said a bomb threat forced them to call off a football match Tuesday that was meant as a "symbol of freedom" after the Paris attacks and was to be attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany-Netherlands Match Canceled over Explosion Threat

Hanover city police Chief Volker Kluwe said "there had been serious plans to cause an explosion in the 49,000-capacity stadium."

"We received a serious indication that a bomb attack was planned inside the stadium tonight," he added.

By the time the information disseminated, Merkel had already arrived at the venue but was quickly ushered out, according to media reports.

Police were still looking for suspects around the city late Tuesday, but no arrests were made and no explosives were found.

The German team was playing France in Paris last Friday when players and fans were shaken by the blasts of three terrorist suicide bombers outside the Stade de France that echoed through the venue.

Head coach Joachim Loew had called Tuesday's planned match "a clear message and symbol of freedom and a demonstration of compassion, as well as sorrow, for our French friends, not only in France, but throughout the world."

The victims of the Paris attacks -which claimed at least 129 lives with more than 350 injured - had been set to be honored by candlelight in what had been described as "a friendly in the true sense of the word."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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