German police arrest suspect in Dortmund bus attack

German Police have revealed they have arrested a man on suspicion of carrying out last week's bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus.

Defender Marc Bartra, a Spain international, and a police officer were injured in the triple blasts as the players and coaching staff left a hotel ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Monaco. The game was eventually postponed until the following day.

Prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Sergej W, was detained on Friday. He is believed to have carried out the attack for financial reasons and had speculated on Dortmund's share value dropping after the bombing.

They revealed he had bought a large number of so-called put options for shares of the football club. These would have entitled him to sell the 15,000 shares at a pre-determined price, resulting in a substantial profit if their value had fallen in the meantime.

 

Hola a todos! Como veis ya estoy mucho mejor, muchas gracias a todo el mundo por los mensajes de apoyo! Toda mi fuerza a mis compañeros, afición y todo el @bvb09 para el partido de esta noche! #HejaBVB Hello everybody! As you can see I am doing much better. Thank you everybody for all your support and your messages! All my strength to my team mates, supporters and fans and to @bvb09 for tonight's match! #HejaBVB

A post shared by Marc Bartra (@marcbartra) on Apr 12, 2017 at 7:04am PDT

"A significant share price drop could have been expected if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack", said prosecutors. The 28-year-old German-Russian citizen faces charges of attempted murder, causing an explosion and serious bodily harm.

Three identical letters were found at the scene, linking the attack to German involvement in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. But there were doubts over their authenticity.A fourth letter posted online also claiming responsibility, which could have come from anti-fascists, was discounted by police too.

The explosives used in the attack contained metal pins - one of which buried itself into a headrest on the coach.
Police believe the explosives may have been hidden in a hedge near the car park the L'Arrivee Hotel and Spa on the outskirts of Dortmund.

The blasts happened around six miles from the Westfalenstadion, where the team had been due to face their Ligue 1 opposition. Monaco won the resulting match 3-2, and advanced to the semi-finals earlier this week.

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