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Hundreds of Juventus fans injured in Turin after panic over firecrackers Hundreds of Juventus fans injured in Turin after panic over firecrackers
(about 1 hour later)
Juventus fans watching the Champions League final stampeded in a Turin piazza in panic after mistaking firecrackers for an explosion or gunshots.Juventus fans watching the Champions League final stampeded in a Turin piazza in panic after mistaking firecrackers for an explosion or gunshots.
Medics treated fans in the square for cuts and other injuries sustained in the chaos. The Italian news agency Ansa reported that around 600 people had been injured, with one child understood to be in a critical condition. Medics treated fans in the square for cuts and other injuries sustained in the chaos. The Italian news agency Ansa reported that around 600 people had been injured, with two people, including a child, understood to be in a critical condition.
Thousands of people had gathered in Piazza San Carlo to watch Juventus face Real Madrid on giant TV screens. At a certain point, hundreds ran from the centre after some reported hearing a loud sound, an explosion or a shot, according to the Associated Press reporter Brian Hendrie, who was in the square. 200 injured in Juventus fan panic after bomb scare https://t.co/QYJEQtLY3Q pic.twitter.com/skDS3A1cRk
“At that moment, I saw the entire piazza went in the direction next to the screen to escape, all in a panic,” he said. “They ran, fell on the ground on the glass.” He said some reported having heard a small explosion, others a shot. “I heard five or six different versions. It sparked a panic.” Thousands of people had gathered in Piazza San Carlo to watch Juventus face Real Madrid on giant TV screens. After some reported hearing a loud sound, explosion or a shot, hundreds ran from the centre, according to the Associated Press reporter Brian Hendrie, who was in the square.
“At that moment, I saw the entire piazza went in the direction next to the screen to escape, all in a panic,” he said. “They ran, fell on the ground on the glass.” He said some reported having heard a small explosion, others a shot. “I heard five or six different versions. It sparked a panic.”
Within minutes, dazed fans in Juve’s black and white jerseys returned and milled about the piazza amid the broken bottles and rubbish littering the cobblestones, with the match largely forgotten.Within minutes, dazed fans in Juve’s black and white jerseys returned and milled about the piazza amid the broken bottles and rubbish littering the cobblestones, with the match largely forgotten.
The square was evacuated so quickly it was left strewn with sneakers ripped off people’s feet as they ran.
Verletzte in Turin! - Panik beim Public Viewing https://t.co/IS7rZC7qGy
“The root cause of this was panic, to understand what triggered it we will have to wait a while,” said local official Renato Saccone, the prefect of Turin.
Police said around 200 people 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.