Frankfurt, Nov 11: Robert Enke, the Hannover and Germany goalkeeper, died after being hit by a train, according to police. He was 32.
After Hannover president Martin Kind confirmed Enke’s death, German police released a statement saying a man had been fatally injured after being hit by a train on Tuesday evening.
“The victim is apparently national team goalkeeper Robert Enke from Hannover 96,” the statement said. “The first police indications are that it was a suicide.”
Enke had been diagnosed with a bacterial stomach ailment several weeks ago but played last weekend for Hannover.
He had not been selected for Germany’s friendlies against Chile on Saturday and Ivory Coast on Wednesday. But coach Joachim Loew had said Enke remained the leading candidate to be Germany’s goalkeeper at next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
Enke played eight matches for Germany. Enke and his wife lost their 2-year-old daughter to a heart ailment in 2006. Kind said Enke had been “unstable” recently, but that it had not been publicly noticed.
–Agencies