44 injured in soccer clashes in Marseille, Nice: Officials
14 Jun 2016 4:51 AM IST
Fighting broke out all day in the port city of Marseille, where Russia and England fans clashed with each other and police before and after a European Championship match.
Regional police chief Laurent Nunez said most of the injuries in Marseille were minor but that four were serious and that one of them an England supporter was in serious but stable condition. He said 15 people have been arrested, seven on Saturday and eight more on Sunday.
Local officials in the Cote d’Azur city of Nice said clashes broke out after French soccer hooligans fought with fans from Poland and Northern Ireland.
Emeline Combi, a 24-year-old Frenchwoman visiting from Paris, told The Associated Press she was on a rooftop restaurant when the friendly atmosphere below suddenly turned ugly. “We heard noises of broken glass,” she said. “It lasted 40 to 45 minutes.”
Regional authorities said in a statement posted to their Facebook page that nine people were hospitalized following the fighting, including a woman who suffered cranial trauma after falling from a lamppost. Three people were arrested.
French officials have been on the defensive over the clashes, which were carried live omn television.
Nunez said the level of policing was “absolutely proportional” to the threat faced.
Northern Ireland fans drawn into Euro 2016 violence
Northern Ireland fans were drawn into fighting in Nice on Saturday night as European Championship violence spread, witnesses said. Seven people were injured, including one man with a serious head injury, French police said. According to a Northern Ireland police officer accompanying fans at the scene, French riot police moved in after local Nice youths hurled bottles at Northern Ireland supporters in cafes near the central Place Massena.
“About 20 to 30 Nice youths started throwing bottles at the Northern Ireland fans. Some bottles were thrown back, some punches were thrown,” the officer said. “French police arrived to contain the situation.” Dozens of riot police were on the pedestrian street after the incidents ended. Northern Ireland play Poland in Group C in Nice on Sunday. There are an estimated 10,000 Northern Ireland fans and several thousand Polish in the city for the game.
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