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| Europe | |
| Germany cancels Netherlands match after bomb threat | |
| 2015-11-18 | |
| The friendly soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands was canceled 90 minutes before kickoff on Tuesday due to the suspected threat of a bomb at the stadium. "We had concrete evidence that someone wanted to set off an explosive device in the stadium," Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe told German TV. Referring to another bomb threat about an hour beforehand that turned out to be a false alarm, Kluwe said, "After the first object turned out to be harmless, we got a tip that had to be taken seriously that an attack was being planned." Members of the German government including Chancellor Angela Merkel were not at the stadium, but had arrived in Hannover to attend the match to send a signal that Germany wouldn't bow to terrorism in the wake of the deadly Paris attacks on Friday.
Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking at the same late news conference, said no explosives had been found by then, and no arrests had been made. Pistorius said there was no confirmation of rumors that an explosive device was placed in an ambulance or another vehicle inside or outside the stadium. 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 came. There were no signs of panic, with most fans seemingly accepting the decision with resignation. Police became more forceful with members of the media who attempted to stay beside the stadium. Security at the stadium was very tight, with police armed with machine guns and maintaining a very obvious presence in the city. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |