TWO people died, hundreds were arrested and cars were 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, Germany.
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 was 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.
Police, in a statement, said that “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.