Two fans died and a police officer was placed under a coma induced after celebrations around France, to mark the historic victory of the Paris Saint-Germain Champions League, which became violent on Saturday evening, the French authorities announced on Sunday. The Champions League is the greatest football price in Europe.
In addition, at least 559 people were arrested nationally during mass celebrations, including at least 491 in the capital, said the French interior ministry, according to AFP.
The deaths spoiled what started as a night of exuberance after PSG won its first title of the Champions League, and long-awaited, in a 5-0 victory against Inter Milan. The Eiffel Tower shone in the colors of the team and the fans celebrated all night in celebrations that were largely peaceful but degenerate in violence in certain regions.
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A 17 -year -old boy was stabbed to death in the west of the city of Dax during a street party in PSG after the final on Saturday evening in Munich, the national police service said. A man in their twenties was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, said the office of the Minister of the Interior. The circumstances of the two are the subject of an investigation.
A police officer was accidentally struck by fireworks during a PSG rally in the courettions in northwestern France and placed in an artificial coma due to serious eye injury, the national police service said. A total of 192 people were injured in the capital, four of which were seriously, said the Paris police chief.
The officer struck by fireworks were one of the “many” police and firefighters from France who were injured while intervening to restore order in the Champions League celebrations that were wrong, said the French national police.
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The team is expected to return to a large victory parade on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday afternoon, with up to 110,000 people authorized along the emblematic avenue and limited with trees to see the victorious players.
Later, the team will join fans wrapped in the PSG home stadium, the Parc des Princes,, On the western edge of the city, for a concert and a light show and an official presentation of the Champions League trophy.
A large strip of central bets was closed to traffic for the exceptional day. Security measures also have an impact on the French Open which takes place nearby.
Thousands of police officers are deployed to keep order and will use tactics similar to what they did on Saturday evening, said the Paris police chief, Laurent Nunez, to journalists. AP journalists have seen tear gas used near the stadium and water cannons used near the Triomphe arc to disperse the rowdy crowds.
In addition to injuries and arrests, Nunez said that four stores had been looted overnight. The firefighters were so busy extinguishing the garbage waste in the middle of the celebrations and facing other emergencies than the fire hotline was saturated.
Sunday at 2 am, a total of 294 arrests had been made, including 30 people who broke into a shoe store in the Champs-Élysées. Two cars were lit near the Parc des Princes, the police added.
At the place of the Bastille, there were joyful scenes while the fans rose on the basis of the famous chronicle, singing, dancing and leaving the light rockets, while those who joined.
At one point, the motorcycles have loudly turned their engines and the crowd applauded as they turn around the column. There was no police nearby and, at 1 am, the atmosphere was optimistic without tensions and a lot of song.
Nunez blamed the problems dispersed on “thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence” instead of watching the match. He noted similar disorders on the sidelines of previous celebrations in the capital, as after the victory of the French World Cup in 2018.