Explosion near Dortmund team bus injures player

Three explosions went off near the Borussia Dortmund bus, injuring Spanish international defender Marc Bartra, as the German team headed for a Champions League game against Monaco on Tuesday, police said.

Bartra was taken to hospital and the quarter-final first-leg match was postponed until Wednesday because of the attack.

The bus had set off from the team hotel for the Borussia stadium about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away when “three explosive charges detonated,” said a police spokesman, Gunnar Wortmann.

The bus windows were shattered and one person inside the vehicle was wounded, added the spokesman, without adding details.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said Bartra, 26, suffered a hand injury and was being treated in hospital.

The announcement that the game was postponed until Wednesday was only made to the stunned stadium about 15 minutes before the game started.

UEFA confirmed the match will now be played on Wednesday at 1845 local time (1645 GMT).

Dortmund relayed a copy of its Twitter announcement of the explosions inside the stadium to inform fans of events.

Germany has been on a high alert since last December’s attack in Berlin, when a Tunisian national hijacked a truck and rammed it into a crowd, killing 12 people.