France
Car drives into crowd – 14-year-old dies at World Cup celebrations
STORY: Party mood on Paris’ magnificent boulevard Champs Elysées late Wednesday evening. There were motorcades and lifting concerts. French flags were waved and firecrackers were set off. The French national football team had previously defeated Morocco 2-0 in the semi-finals of the football World Cup and thus entered the final. And even has the chance to defend his world title on Sunday. “It would be huge if France won twice in a row. Didier Deschamps will become a legend, even more than he already is. That would be just crazy.” “I was worried up until the first goal and the first half was very tight. The second half was a bit better but the rest of the game was complicated until we got the second goal.” Celebrations took place all over France, but it remained mostly peaceful and French and Moroccan fans celebrated together. But there were also exceptions: According to the police, around 40 people belonging to the right-wing spectrum were provisionally arrested in Paris because they wanted to bring banned weapons to the Champs-Elysées. A 14-year-old died in a car accident during the celebrations in Montpellier. In Nice, football fans threw firecrackers at police officers. And in Brussels, too, there were renewed violent clashes between Moroccan football fans and the police. The police used water cannon and tear gas.
After France’s 2-0 victory in the World Cup semi-finals, a 14-year-old was hit by a car and fatally injured in Montpellier. The driver fled after the accident. Serious riots broke out in Brussels after Morocco’s World Cup defeat.
There were no major riots during the celebrations in France after entering the final of the soccer World Cup, but they were overshadowed by a fatal accident in Montpellier. A driver drove into a 14-year-old in the southern French city and then committed a hit-and-run. However, his car had already been secured near the scene of the accident and is now being examined. The teenager died in the hospital, the prefecture said on Thursday. In addition, after the game against Morocco, there were several riots and more than 260 arrests across the country. After the fatal accident in Montpellier, the prefecture said the car had been found, but the driver was still being sought. Videos circulated online showing a white car surrounded by people tearing down a flag hanging from the car window. It is not clear which flag it is. The driver turns abruptly and knocks over several people. Other videos show flares flying through the air and people throwing chairs. “I am infinitely sad, a sporting event is becoming an absolute drama,” wrote left-wing MP from Montpellier, Nathalie Oziol, on Twitter. Mayor Michael Delafosse was “shocked”. He hopes that the culprit will be found quickly.
France: Car hits 14-year-old – driver flees
Celebrations erupted across the country following France’s victory over Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals. Thousands of people celebrated in different French cities. The jubilee parties were mostly peaceful, the authorities only reported isolated clashes during the night. In Montpellier, fans from both sides firecrackers fired at each other. In the meantime, there was also talk of a tense situation in Lyon. As the newspaper “Nice-Matin” reported, there were also conflicts between fans and the police in Nice and Cannes. In most cases, however, the police were able to restore order, and property was damaged. Because massive riots after the end of the World Cup game had been feared in advance, the French police had massively increased their security presence. In the greater Paris area alone, 5,000 officers were deployed. There, the police arrested 115 people on the fringes of the celebrations. According to police sources, among them was a group of around 40 people who are close to the ultra-right in the country.
Riots and arrests in Belgium
Meanwhile, police in Belgium arrested around 100 people amid riots in Brussels following Morocco’s defeat in the semi-finals of the World Cup. These were due to disruption of public order, damage to two police vehicles and possession of prohibited fireworks, as the Belga news agency reported on Thursday night, citing the police. Traffic in parts of the city center was blocked as a precaution. There were also clashes in Antwerp. The police reported 85 arrests on Thursday morning, including 20 minors. Several people were also arrested here. Numerous police officers in protective clothing and burning piles of rubbish could be seen in pictures from the Belgian capital from the night. However, photos of Belga also showed residents who began cleaning the streets of rubbish in the evening.
Watch the video: Morocco’s football fans celebrate and riot in Brussels.
Berlin: Pride outweighs Morocco’s World Cup
In Berlin, on the other hand, the mood remained calm overall, most people went home quickly after the game, said a police spokesman on Wednesday evening. They had been prepared for a larger effort – especially in the event of a victory for the Moroccan team. In the Berlin-Neukölln district, fans set off a short fireworks display. A dpa reporter on site reported that the fans were proud of the team’s performance, which surprisingly made it to the semi-finals at the World Cup in Qatar. However, Wednesday’s defeat by France (0-2) ended the dreams of the Moroccans, who had become the first African team to reach the top four at a World Cup.