4 seriously injured in mass brawl at Schalke clubhouse

At least four people were seriously injured in a mass brawl among football fans in front of a Schalke clubhouse in Gelsenkirchen ahead of the club's Bundesliga game against Union Berlin on Sunday, reported dpa.

Several hundred Schalke fans had met at the clubhouse in the morning to take buses to watch the match in Berlin, police said. However, a violent group of at least 100 people showed up at the meeting point.

The police assume the group was part of the Rot-Weiß Essen and Borussia Dortmund fan scenes, both clubs regional rivals of Schalke.

A baseball bat and other striking tools were used during the brawl and a bus driver was among the injured, police said, adding that the attackers were already gone when they arrived.

Investigations for breach of the peace and dangerous bodily harm have been launched. The police are also investigation the extent to which the attack had been planned, a spokesperson said.