Officials canceled an international friendly soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands after the stadium in Hanover, Germany, was the target of a bomb threat.
“We have received concrete information that someone was planning to set off explosives inside the stadium," the city's chief of police told German media. An official with the German state of Lower-Saxony, Oscar Pistorius, said no explosives had been found at the HDI Arena.
Spiel abgesagt! Hier die Durchsage der Polizei. #GERNED pic.twitter.com/geT9mkSDEQ— Timm Detering (@detesring) November 17, 2015
Earlier, German newspaper Kreiszeitung said officials had found an ambulance packed full of explosives, kicking off widespread confusion and panic on Twitter.
Spiel ist abgesagt! #GERNED pic.twitter.com/PPsFO5c1vO— Haudegen Lars (@Haudegen_Lars) November 17, 2015
As the stadium was evacuated roughly 90 minutes before kickoff, residents of the city were told to stay indoors and away from large gatherings of people. "I advise everyone to go home and stay inside your flats," the police chief said. The team was put under police protection.
The #GERNED game has been cancelled. #DieMannschaft are under police protection and have been escorted to a safe place.— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) November 17, 2015
A concert hall where the group Söhne Mannheims was due to perform was also evacuated.
BREAKING: According to BILD, the TUI-Arena is now also being evacuated. The Söhne Mannheims pop band were playing there tonight.— DW Sports (@dw_sports) November 17, 2015
This is the second friendly match to be canceled due to security concerns following Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris. Late Monday, officials canceled the scheduled match between Spain and Belgium due to an elevated terror threat level in Belgium.
Surrounded by tight security, tonight's England versus France match at Wembley Stadium in London is currently scheduled to take place as planned.