Jacquelin Magnay
PARIS TERROR ATTACKS: German police have evacuated fans from a Hannover stadium after ‘concrete threat’ as French police hunt for a second fugitive. You can catch up on how yesterday’s events unfolded here, and we’ll update this story throughout the day with fresh developments.
8.45am: Investigators have obtained a video that confirms there was a ninth attacker in Paris among the men that opened fire on bars and restaurants, sources close to the inquiry told AFP on Tuesday.
The video indicates there could be a second attacker on the run, along with Salah Abdeslam, unless the man pictured is one of two suspected accomplices being held in Belgium.
8.30am: Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe has been talking to German television.
“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.”
There was no confirmation of rumors that an explosive device was placed in an ambulance or another vehicle inside or outside the stadium.
8.20am: No explosives have been found in the Hannover football scare, says the German regional minister.
Germany’s top security official says the decision to cancel the soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands was made after authorities received mounting information during the course of the day about a possible attack.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been among the top Germany officials scheduled to attend.
8am: A mobile phone believed to have been used by one of the attackers in the Paris has been recovered, reports CNN.
The network reports the phone contained a message to the effect of “OK, we’re ready”.
7.50am: A second stadium in the northern German city of Hannover has been evacuated.
Concert-goers had been waiting for the band “Soehne Mannheims” to play.
Hannover’s chief of police says authorities received a warning about a possible bomb threat shortly before the start of a soccer friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands in the main Hannover stadium. The stadium was evacuated and the game was cancelled.
Police chief Volker Kluwe told German public broadcaster NDR that the alleged threat involved the “detonation of explosives in the stadium.” He says the “key warning reached us about 15 minutes before the gates opened.”
7.40am: Four days after getting caught up in synchronised attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people, France’s soccer team started its friendly game against England amid tightened security at Wembley Stadium.
In a powerful message of solidarity and unity, England fans joined their French counterparts in singing France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” before the game. The words of the anthem were put up, in French, on the big screens at either end of the stadium.
7.20am: French police have released a photograph of one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up outside the national stadium, appealing for any witnesses with information to come forward.
Investigators have already established that he had been finger-printed by authorities in Greece in October but his identity remains unclear. Near his body was a Syrian passport apparently belonging to a Syrian regime soldier killed several months ago.
7am: German police, acting on a “concrete threat’’ have evacuated fans from the Hannover football stadium Niedersachsenstadion and cancelled a friendly football game between Germany and the Netherlands.
The German interior minister Thomas De Maiziere told a press conference: “We received very concrete information on a serious security threat to the City of Hannover, I cannot go into more detail.”
The Mayor of Hannover told local press there had been a plan for an explosion in the city and the threat was very serious.
Just 90 minutes before the game was due to start — in front of the German chancellor Angela Merkel who had not yet arrived — police told the spectators at the 32,000 capacity ‘’to move away from the stadium, do not stand still’’.
Within minutes the nearby Hannover TUI-Arena hosting a music event was also cleared and the local trains had been stopped. Police were instructing the crowds to stay calm and walk away.
The football game had been billed as a solidarity match with France and to support the German team who was playing France at the Stade de France last Friday night when the suicide attacks occurred.
Local police said: “Please go home quickly without panic’’.
Source: The Australian With agencies
