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Five seriously injured as Juventus fans in Turin panic over firecrackers Five seriously injured as Juventus fans in Turin panic over firecrackers
(about 9 hours later)
Juventus fans watching the Champions League final stampeded in a Turin piazza in panic after mistaking firecrackers for an explosion or gunshots. More than 1,500 people are thought to have been injured after Juventus fans watching the Champions League final stampeded in a Turin square after mistaking firecrackers for an explosion or gunshots.
About 400 people were being treated for injuries, Italian media reported. About five people were seriously hurt, including a 7-year-old boy who was trampled, Sky TG24 reported. Thousands of people had gathered in Piazza San Carlo on Saturday night to watch Juventus play Real Madrid on giant TV screens. During the second half of the match, loud bangs led to a sudden rush in the middle of the crowd, causing a surge that flung people against barriers.
Thousands of fans had gathered to watch the Champions League final in front of a giant screen in San Carlo Square. Many were trampled as people began to run out of the centre of the square, screaming in fear. The stampede may been started by the explosion of a loud firecracker that was mistaken for a bomb, according to some witnesses.
During the second half of the match, which local club Juventus went on to lose 1-4 to Real Madrid, video cameras show a sudden rush in the middle of the crowd that caused a surge that flung people against barriers. “I heard an explosion, which must have been a huge firecracker,” a witness told La Stampa, one of Italy’s daily newspapers. However, another suggested it may have been the result of a security barrier falling over.
Many fans then began to run out of the centre of the square, screaming in fear. The panic may been started by the explosion of a loud firecracker that was mistaken for a bomb, a witness said. “They shouted: ‘There’s a bomb! Evacuate the square,’” a member of the audience told the paper. “So we ran away. There were people on the ground, and blood and glass everywhere.”
Afterwards shoes and bags littered the ground, people were seen limping and searching desperately for friends and relatives. One of the fans, who was caught next to the barriers, said: “I felt I was being lifted up. It was terrible.”
Police have set up an information point to help people find their loved ones, and they are investigating what caused the panic. Although initially police said 200 people needed hospital treatment, the Italian news agency Ansa later put the figure at 1,527, using hospital tallies. Most of the injured were treated for cuts and light contusions but five people, including a young child, were reportedly in a serious condition.
“I saw the entire piazza went in the direction next to the screen to escape, all in a panic,” Associated Press reporter Brian Hendrie 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.” “The root cause of this was panic,” said the local official Renato Saccone. “We’ll have to wait a while to understand what triggered it.”
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. Shoes and bags littered the ground in the aftermath of the stampede, and people were seen limping and searching desperately for friends and relatives. Police have set up an information point to help people find their loved ones, and are now investigating what caused the panic.
The square was evacuated so quickly it was left strewn with sneakers ripped off people’s feet as they ran. “I saw the entire piazza went in the direction next to the screen to escape, all in a panic,” the Associated Press reporter Brian Hendrie 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.
Verletzte in Turin! - Panik beim Public Viewing https://t.co/IS7rZC7qGyVerletzte 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. Some injuries occurred after a railing around the entrance to underground parking beneath the square gave way under the weight of the crush.
Police said around 200 people needed hospital treatment with five 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 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.
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.