The FIFA World Cup is set to kick off in Auckland today.
The Women’s World Cup is scheduled to begin in New Zealand and Australia today, Thursday. New Zealand takes on Norway Finland time at 10 a.m. at Eden Park in Auckland. Australia take on Ireland in Sydney at 1pm.
However, this morning in New Zealand’s largest city, chaos has arisen. Among other things According to The New Zealand Herald a gunman attacked the construction site of a business center under renovation in the city’s core. According to the map service, it is about 3.5 kilometers from the venue to Eden Park, the venue for the World Cup.
According to the newspaper, the 24-year-old man entered the construction site at 7:22 local time in the morning. According to the Herald, the man had an electronic monitoring device, which is used, among other things, to monitor prisoners on supervised probation.
There are at least three dead, among them the shooter himself. Six people were injured, three of them seriously. Police officers are among the injured.
Due to the incident, several roads and ferry traffic to the city were closed and people were advised to stay indoors in the area.
The hotel of the Norwegian team is nearby
Urheilu’s reporter on the spot in New Zealand Riku Salminen said that in the vicinity of the scene of the shooting incident, at least the hotel of the Norwegian national team and the festival area of the International Football Association Fifa, where you can watch the matches of the World Cup, are located.
Norwegian Broadcasting According to NRK The Norwegian hotel is located “a few hundred meters from the venue”.
– We see a helicopter and a lot of police cars from this hotel, but we don’t change, said the Norwegian team’s media worker Halvor Lea.
Captain of the Norwegian team Maren Mjelde said that the team woke up exceptionally early to the sounds of the helicopter and emergency vehicles, but has since prepared for the game as usual and had breakfast.
– We have felt safe. Fifa has good security systems at the hotel. Everything seems peaceful. Then we may have to adapt if there are any new regulations from the authorities.
Reuters reports that the Italian team’s training has been delayed because they cannot leave their hotel. The USA team has also informed about the matter, saying that all players and background personnel are fine and safe.
The police gave more information, the prime minister commented
According to the Reuters news agency, the prime minister Chris Hipkins canceled his trip to the city of Hamilton, located about 120 kilometers south of Auckland, and was on his way back to the capital, Wellington.
Hipkins commented that no changes will be made to the national threat level as a result of what happened. According to Hipkins, the soccer World Cup will start normally. Hipkins also praised the “heroic actions” of the police and first responders in the situation.
– I’m leaving soon, police chief by Andrew Coster with me to the venue to give my possible support. It is clear that with the opening of the World Cup, many eyes are on Auckland. The New Zealand government has spoken with Fifa organizers this morning and the tournament will go ahead as planned, Hipkins said in a statement.
The police and Prime Minister Hipkins announced that the shooter was quickly apprehended and that it was a single perpetrator. According to the information, “political or ideological motives” were not connected to the event.
– This is not a national security risk, the police said in a statement.
The story is updated…