Two dead, 559 arrested in wild PSG Champions League celebrations

New Straits Times

2 days ago

PARIS: Two people died, hundreds were arrested and cars set ablaze in France overnight as football fans celebrated Paris Saint-Germain's stunning Champions League final victory, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
The epicentre of the euphoria was in Paris, which was a theatre of car horns, cheers, singing in the street and fireworks throughout the night following PSG's 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan in Munich.
The ministry said 491 people were arrested in the capital when crowds converged on the Champs-Elysees avenue and clashes broke out with officers.
Across France as a whole, including Paris, a total of 559 people were arrested, it added.
The two deaths occurred as the celebrations took place.
A man riding a motor scooter in Paris died after being hit by a car in the city's southern 15th arrondissement located just a couple of kilometres (miles) away from the Champs-Elysees.
In the southwestern town of Dax, a 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed at a gathering feting the PSG victory, prosecutors said.
His death occurred "during the celebrations", but the prosecutor's office said it did not know whether it was directly related to the Champions League final. It added that the perpetrator was "on the run."
The interior ministry said that 18 police officers in Paris were injured, along with three elsewhere in France, as were 192 people celebrating in the streets. Seven fire-service personnel were also hurt.
It said that 692 fires were reported through the night, including 264 cars that were set ablaze.
The PSG team were to hold a victory parade on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, with tens of thousands of supporters expected to gather to catch a glimpse of their returning heroes.
Overnight, AFP journalists saw police on the famed thoroughfare using a water cannon to stop a crowd reaching the Arc de Triomphe, which sits at the top of the Champs-Elysees.
Police, in a statement, said "troublemakers" clashed with officers "by throwing large fireworks and other objects." One policeman was in an induced coma after being hit in the eye by a firework in the Normandy region, prosecutors said.
Elsewhere, police said a car careered into fans celebrating PSG's win in Grenoble in southeastern France, leaving four people injured, two of them seriously. All of those hurt were from the same family, police said.
The driver handed himself in to the police and was placed under arrest. A source close to the investigation said it was believed the driver had not acted intentionally. The public prosecutor's office said the driver had tested negative for alcohol and drugs.
The majority of fans celebrated peacefully, but police in Paris said scuffles broke out near the Champs-Elysees avenue, and around PSG's Parc des Princes stadium, where 48,000 had watched the match on giant screens.
Most of those arrested in the capital were suspected of illegally possessing fireworks and causing disorder, police said.
The PSG victory meant the club won the biggest prize in European club football for the first time in their history.
One 20-year-old PSG supporter, Clement, said: "It's so good and so deserved! We have a song that talks about our struggles and it hasn't always been easy.
"But we got our faith back this year with a team without stars. They're 11 guys who play for each other."
French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would host the victorious players on Sunday to congratulate them.
In a message on X, Macron hailed a "day of glory for PSG."
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed it as a "historic" win.
A total of 11.5 million people tuned in across France to watch the match, according to figures given by the Mediametrie audience-measurement company and one of the broadcasters, Canal+. - AFP