Fifa World Cup
Teenager Killed in Montpellier After France-Morocco World Cup Semifinal
(CTN News) – Local police have reported that a 14-year-old child has died after being hit by a vehicle amid isolated acts of violence in several French towns after France’s World Cup semifinal victory over Morocco on Wednesday night.
The local government office in the southern city of Montpellier said police were seeking the driver of the automobile, which was abandoned nearby after the “violent collision” and was being investigated for fingerprints and other evidence.
The nameless kid was brought to the hospital but died soon thereafter, the Hérault département reported. Witnesses said the driver struck two teenagers while speeding away as fans attempted to grab the French flag fluttering from his vehicle window.
Michal Delafosse, the mayor of Montpellier, expressed his “great dismay” at the event, which took place less than an hour after France defeated Morocco 2-0 to advance to their second straight World Cup final.
While post-match celebrations were mainly quiet, 262 persons were detained nationally, with incidents in towns like Marseille, Avignon, Annecy, Grenoble, Lyon, Nice, Bordeaux and Paris, police and local officials said.
More than 165 people were held in the broader Paris area, including 145 in Paris, where an estimated 25,000 fans had assembled on the Champs-Élysées.
Authorities said that five police officers were treated for minor injuries, mostly from pyrotechnics.
A group of roughly 40 far-right activists who were halted by a police patrol and jailed for plotting to use violence and possessing prohibited weapons was among those held in Paris. Several of these individuals were previously known to the authorities.
According to a police source,”They were headed towards the Champs-Élysées seeking mayhem.”
A police union representative, Stanislas Gaudon, told RMC radio that generally, the evening had been “relatively quiet” except for “a few outbursts of violence throughout Paris that were immediately brought under control”.
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