By Joan Camargo
Jul 23, 2023, 12:59 PM EDT
This Saturday night the New Zealand soccer team had to be evacuated from the hotel where it was concentrated, in Auckland, after an arson in that building, in the middle of the celebration of the 2023 Women’s Soccer World Cup.
According to the local press, the Pullman hotel alarms went off at around 8:00 p.m. local time, and this forced the temporary eviction of guests, including the Ferns.
The Stuff news portal reported that the police arrested a 34-year-old suspect for the incident, who is accused of robbery and arson. That is why he must appear before the local court this Monday.
The chief executive of the New Zealand soccer federation said police were not treating the fire as an attack on the women’s team, but as some kind of “strange coincidence”.
The local press also indicated that all the members of the New Zealand team are in good condition, and their agenda will not change at all in the Women’s Soccer World Cup, which is held in New Zealand and Australia.
This Tuesday the Ferns will face the whole of the Philippines on Tuesday, after the victory they obtained in the first match against Norway.
Auckland, one of the venues for the women’s soccer world cup that started on Thursday and will be held until August 20 in New Zealand and Australia, already recorded another incident on the opening day of the tournament when, in a case unrelated to the championship, a man shot at people in a downtown construction site.
At least three people, including the assailant, lost their lives in this attack, which left another six injured, including a police officer.
With information from EFE.
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- FIFA expresses its condolences for those killed and injured in a shooting in New Zealand prior to the Women’s World Cup