Hannover On Terror Alert After Stadium Evacuated

Fans are seeing leaving the Hannover stadium.

Morris MacMatzen / Reuters

Authorities in Hannover, Germany, placed the city on terror alert on Tuesday night after receiving "concrete threats" that a bomb could go off somewhere in the area, NDR reported.

The city-wide alert was issued after police evacuated Hannover's main stadium. The Niedersachsenstadion was scheduled to host a friendly match between the national teams of Germany and the Netherlands. Fans were initially allowed to enter the stadium only to be told to that the game had been cancelled.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly on her way the stadium, NTV reported.

"Please go straight home but stay calm," local authorities said on Twitter.

Police officers captured on video posted to social media could be heard saying, "there has been no threat." But a police spokesperson told the Guardian that a "suspicious suitcase" had been found in the arena, prompting the evacuation.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene as fans who had been allowed into the stadium were asked to leave.

The Germany-Netherlands match is the latest of a number of cancelled soccer games across Europe since terrorists detonated explosives outside a friendly match at the Stadium of France, in Paris, on Friday. Earlier Tuesday, authorities called off a match between Spain and Belgium scheduled for Tuesday.