1000 Injured in Juventus Fan Panic After Bomb Scare: Police
AFP reporters at the scene said chaotic scenes ensued ten minutes before the end of the match, apparently triggered by fireworks being let off and one or more people shouting that a bomb had gone off.
Highlights
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A bomb scare triggered panic among Juventus fans
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The incident compounded a miserable night for supporters of Juventus
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Police said some 200 people had needed hospital treatment
At least 1,000 people were injured, seven seriously, after a bomb scare triggered a stampede among Juventus fans assembled to watch the Champions League final in Turin, police said Sunday.
AFP reporters at the scene said chaotic scenes ensued in a packed square 10 minutes before the end of the match with the panic apparently triggered by fireworks being let off and one or more people shouting that a bomb had exploded.
That was enough to trigger a stampede out of the city's Piazza San Carlo, in which the injuries occurred.
The incident compounded a miserable night for supporters of Juventus, who lost the Cardiff final 4-1 to Real Madrid.
#Turin, Italy: 200 injured as football fans flee bomb scare https://t.co/AXf2NBL21Q pic.twitter.com/QeLp1ABNZ2
— David Vujanovic (@DavidVujanovic) June 4, 2017
The square was evacuated so quickly it was left strewn with sneakers ripped off people's feet as they ran.
"The root cause of this was panic, to understand what triggered it we will have to wait a while," said top local official Renato Saccone, the prefect of Turin.
Police said some 200 people had needed hospital treatment with two of them in a serious condition. Some injuries occurred after a railing around the entrance to an underground parking beneath the square gave way under the weight of the crush.
Local media cited older Juventus fans present as saying the panic had evoked painful memories of the 1985 Heysel disaster in which 39 mostly Italian fans died when fans were crushed by a collapsing wall before the start of that year's European Cup final, against Liverpool.