French authorities say two fans died after celebrations around the country for Paris Saint-Germain’s historic Champions League victory, European club football’s biggest prize.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party, according to the national police. And a man was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said. The circumstances of both deaths are being investigated.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau commented in a post on social media on Saturday after the game:
“True PSG fans are getting excited about their team’s magnificent performance. Meanwhile, barbarians have taken to the streets of Paris to commit crimes and provoke law enforcement … It is unbearable that it is not possible to party without fearing the savagery of a minority of thugs who respect nothing.”
A police officer was accidentally hit by fireworks in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries, a national police source told the French news agency AFP.
The interior ministry said 18 police officers in Paris were injured, along with three elsewhere in France, as were 192 people celebrating in the streets.
Hundreds of people were arrested in the celebrations, which were largely peaceful but degenerated into violence in some areas.
Celebrations to continue upon squad’s return to Paris
Meanwhile, the Paris Saint-Germain squad is returning from Munich to the French capital on Sunday to continue celebrating with tens of thousands of the team’s fans.
They are set to arrive in Paris at 4 pm on the club’s own Qatar Airways jet.
