Dortmund team bus attack: Letter 'claims responsibility' as police insist they will do 'everything humanly possible' to keep fans safe

A letter found near the scene of a bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus claims responsibility for the blasts, according to prosecutors.

Police are investigating three “serious explosive devices” which went off as the players and coaching staff left a hotel ahead of a Champions League match in Germany.

Defender Marc Bartra, a Spain international, was taken to hospital after being injured by shattered glass from the coach’s windows.

He has had an operation for a broken bone in his hand.

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Other players were unhurt, but the match against Monaco was postponed.

Dortmund’s police chief has insisted “everything humanly possible” will be done to ensure Borussia Dortmund’s fixture against Monaco takes place safely after a bomb attack damaged the German side’s team bus.

Three explosions occurred as the Dortmund squad were travelling to the Signal Iduna Park stadium for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg and the game was subsequently postponed and rescheduled to be played on Wednesday.

The local police force – Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen Dortmund – held a joint late-night press conference along with the football club and the Dortmund public prosecutor.

Police chief Gregor Lange said: “We must start from (the position this was) a targeted attack on BVB’s team.”

“The stadium and the surrounding area remain the focal point for police.

“We’re preparing a major police presence for tomorrow and will do everything humanly possible to ensure the match can take place safely.”

Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has urged his players to show their club does not bend to “terror and hatred” in an emotional changing-room address.

Watzke admitted the bomb attack on the team bus which led to the postponement of their Champions League meeting with Monaco, and left defender Marc Bartra with a broken wrist, had left the team needing to come to terms with the “incomprehensible” very quickly.

And he said that when the team took to the Westfalenstadion pitch for the rearranged quarter-final first leg on Wednesday evening they would be playing “for everyone – no matter whether Borussia (Monchengladbach), Bayer (Leverkusen) or Schalke supporters”.

Watzke said in a statement on the club website: “The BVB family was always especially strong when it had to cope with difficult situations. This is perhaps the most difficult situation that we have faced in the past decades. I am sure that we will show ourselves as a strong and united BVB like never before.

“We do not just play for us today. We play for everyone – no matter whether Borussia, Bayer or Schalke supporters. We want to show that terror and hatred can never dictate our actions. And of course we play for Marc Bartra, who wants to see his team win.

“We ask all BVB fans to support our team today with total energy for 90 minutes. This team had to process the incomprehensible in a short space of time. We should all help you to come to terms with it. I just appealed to the team in the changing room to show society that we do not bend before terror.”

The team’s Swiss goalkeeper, Roman Buerki, was sitting in the back row of the bus, next to Bartra. He said players ducked for cover, wondering if there would be more explosions.

The blasts happened around six miles from the Westfalenstadion, where the team had been due to face the French side in a quarter-final first-leg tie.

The game will now be played on Wednesday evening.

Borussia Dortmund said there was no danger at the stadium, where around 80,000 people would have been expected for the game.

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The club thanked Monaco supporters for their “patience and understanding” and for chanting “Dortmund! Dortmund!” when the reason for the postponement was announced.

Mr Watzke said: “It was all very disciplined.

“I think with all the social media we have these days that people pretty much knew what was going on.”

Monaco fans were offered a place to stay for the night by Borussia Dortmund supporters on social media after the match was rearranged.

The German club sent out a tweet about the scheme under the hashtag #bedforawayfans.

Fans of both clubs posted pictures of themselves enjoying meals and a drink together.

Monaco also offered their fans €80 each to stay in a hotel for the night.

German Football Association (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel, who had planned to attend Wednesday night’s clash between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, will now be at the Dortmund-Monaco game instead.

He said in a statement: “It is important to me personally and in my position as DFB president to be in Dortmund today to show that all German football is united with BVB. I wish above all Marc Bartra a speedy recovery and great strength for the whole team to be able to come to terms with what’s happened.

“I hope that the orchestrators of this cowardly attack can be found quickly and brought to account. It is a strong signal against hate and violence that the football family is standing together regardless of club lines and sporting boundaries.”

Grindel also emphasised the steps taken to ensure the safety of players and spectators. “The DFB, the league and the clubs do an awful lot for the safety of players and fans,” he said.

“Our experts have worked intensively with the police for many years and are in close contact with the authorities.”