Curious_Guy
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England fan fighting for his life and dozens more injured as English fans and Russian thugs clash at Euro 2016 in Marseille
Marseille resembled a war zone on Saturday night after Russian and English football hooligans clashed in running battles before and after the match that left one supporter fighting for his life.
As fresh waves of violence flared near the Stade Velodrome, police confirmed the worst hit victim was a 51-year-old England supporter.
The English fan suffered ‘horrific’ head injuries amid claims that Russian ‘ultras’, armed with knives and metal poles, had ambushed rival fans.
Clashes resumed in the closing stages of the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and continued after the final whistle with Russian fans ripping down English flags and chasing their rivals across rows of seats.
Fighting erupts during England v Russia CREDIT: CLAUDE PARIS/AP
The fighting restarted after a green flare was set off at the Russian end in what appeared to be a coded signal for the ultras to set upon the English supporters again.
Hundreds scaled barriers to reach their prey. Some England fans fled for their own safety while others took up the gauntlet and fought back.
Disorder at England v Russia CREDIT: KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS
England supporters, including children appeared terrified at the ferocity of the attack. "It's madness that the two nations were not segregated better after all the chaos we have had today."
View image on Twitter
The sheer scale of the violence overshadowed the start of the Euro 2016 football tournament ahead of England’s opening game in the French city.
Riot police use tear gas against rowdy England fansPlay!01:19
Photographs showed the England fan lying on the ground with blood pouring from a head wound while a French police officer tried to revive him. The critically injured English fan was ambushed near the city’s Hard Rock Cafe.
He appeared to have been repeatedly kicked in the head. Six other people were described as "serious injured" with dozens of others, mainly English fans, also treated for wounds.
Matthieu Duroselle, spokesman for Marseille police, said: "There is one English fan that has been badly injured.
"His heart stopped but it was restarted by a police officer who provided heart massage at the scene."
Also in the Timone hospital was a "young man" from England who had been "slashed across the face" by Russian thugs.
He said the rioting involved "English, Russian and a few French fans".
England and Russian football fans clashPlay!00:24
Eyewitnesses described how the man showed signs of life after officers carried out CPR for about two minutes. “He got knocked to the ground and kicked in the head for nothing.
He was not doing anything when some lads attacked him - French, Russian - I don’t know who they were,” claimed one English fan. In other clashes, an unidentified assailant smashed a chair over the head of a man on crutches.
Television footage showed the man collapsing and falling down stone steps near the city centre. French authorities said a Russian supporter had suffered a cardiac arrest during the fighting and had also been rushed to hospital where he too was fighting for his life.
French riot police move in on the England contingent in downtown Marseille CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Other England fans complained of being hunted down by packs of marauding Russians.
“It was the Russians that sparked it all off,” an England supporter insisted, “A whole gang of the [Russians] came right into the middle of everything and started throwing punches.”
Another said: “There’s this group of Russians who are proper mental. They threw everything at us - chairs, bottles - and they slashed us with knives. The French are also having a go.”
A third travelling fan said: “There’s literally an army of Russian fans marching over the hill towards the English supporters. It’s absolutely crazy.” Photographs seemed to back up at least some of those claims.
Even Jamie Vardy's wife, Rebekah, found herself in the midst of the violence being tear gassed as French riot police tried to restore order around the Stade Velodrome.
She wrote on Twitter: "That has to be up there with the worst experience EVER at an away game! Teargassed for no reason, caged and treated like animals! Shocking!"
They showed thugs, wearing black t-shirts, emblazoned with Locomotiv Moscow logo, beating up English fans who appeared to be trying to flee.
One sickening image showed a hooligan apparently stamping on the head of a England supporter. The Russian hooligans posted a series of seemingly ‘celebratory’ photographs on a Twitter site Russian-ultras.com that showed England fans covered in blood with such comments as ‘Fight’ and other inflammatory remarks.
About 10 football hooligans from the Paris gang, the Boulogne Boys, have joined Russian Ultras in Marseille, La Provence newspaper reported. A heavily pregnant woman and her toddler son was dropped off on a tourist boat and found herself caught up in the scenes.
The Spanish woman, who did not want to be named, said: “This is the most beautiful corner of Marseille. It makes me sick to see the English behave like this.
“How can they allow England to play in these tournaments if they behave like this. Throw them out.”
Gerard Channoux, 71, who lives in an apartment overlooking the square, added: “The English are the same. Drink and sun is a cocktail for them. I’m not surprised by this.”
England coach Roy Hodgson had urged fans to “avoid any troubles lurking around the corner.” Gary Toal, an England fan from the northern city of Newcastle, said the violence in Marseille was overshadowing Euro 2016.
“It’s not everybody but there are a lot of people involved,” Mr Toal said. “It is a bit of a mob mentality and it’s not nice to see so we are trying to keep away from all that and enjoy the football.”
Some background info on the Russians
Marseille resembled a war zone on Saturday night after Russian and English football hooligans clashed in running battles before and after the match that left one supporter fighting for his life.
As fresh waves of violence flared near the Stade Velodrome, police confirmed the worst hit victim was a 51-year-old England supporter.
The English fan suffered ‘horrific’ head injuries amid claims that Russian ‘ultras’, armed with knives and metal poles, had ambushed rival fans.
Clashes resumed in the closing stages of the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and continued after the final whistle with Russian fans ripping down English flags and chasing their rivals across rows of seats.
Fighting erupts during England v Russia CREDIT: CLAUDE PARIS/AP
The fighting restarted after a green flare was set off at the Russian end in what appeared to be a coded signal for the ultras to set upon the English supporters again.
Hundreds scaled barriers to reach their prey. Some England fans fled for their own safety while others took up the gauntlet and fought back.
Disorder at England v Russia CREDIT: KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS
England supporters, including children appeared terrified at the ferocity of the attack. "It's madness that the two nations were not segregated better after all the chaos we have had today."
View image on Twitter
The sheer scale of the violence overshadowed the start of the Euro 2016 football tournament ahead of England’s opening game in the French city.
Riot police use tear gas against rowdy England fansPlay!01:19
Photographs showed the England fan lying on the ground with blood pouring from a head wound while a French police officer tried to revive him. The critically injured English fan was ambushed near the city’s Hard Rock Cafe.
He appeared to have been repeatedly kicked in the head. Six other people were described as "serious injured" with dozens of others, mainly English fans, also treated for wounds.
Matthieu Duroselle, spokesman for Marseille police, said: "There is one English fan that has been badly injured.
"His heart stopped but it was restarted by a police officer who provided heart massage at the scene."
Also in the Timone hospital was a "young man" from England who had been "slashed across the face" by Russian thugs.
He said the rioting involved "English, Russian and a few French fans".
England and Russian football fans clashPlay!00:24
Eyewitnesses described how the man showed signs of life after officers carried out CPR for about two minutes. “He got knocked to the ground and kicked in the head for nothing.
He was not doing anything when some lads attacked him - French, Russian - I don’t know who they were,” claimed one English fan. In other clashes, an unidentified assailant smashed a chair over the head of a man on crutches.
Television footage showed the man collapsing and falling down stone steps near the city centre. French authorities said a Russian supporter had suffered a cardiac arrest during the fighting and had also been rushed to hospital where he too was fighting for his life.
French riot police move in on the England contingent in downtown Marseille CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Other England fans complained of being hunted down by packs of marauding Russians.
“It was the Russians that sparked it all off,” an England supporter insisted, “A whole gang of the [Russians] came right into the middle of everything and started throwing punches.”
Another said: “There’s this group of Russians who are proper mental. They threw everything at us - chairs, bottles - and they slashed us with knives. The French are also having a go.”
A third travelling fan said: “There’s literally an army of Russian fans marching over the hill towards the English supporters. It’s absolutely crazy.” Photographs seemed to back up at least some of those claims.
Even Jamie Vardy's wife, Rebekah, found herself in the midst of the violence being tear gassed as French riot police tried to restore order around the Stade Velodrome.
She wrote on Twitter: "That has to be up there with the worst experience EVER at an away game! Teargassed for no reason, caged and treated like animals! Shocking!"
They showed thugs, wearing black t-shirts, emblazoned with Locomotiv Moscow logo, beating up English fans who appeared to be trying to flee.
One sickening image showed a hooligan apparently stamping on the head of a England supporter. The Russian hooligans posted a series of seemingly ‘celebratory’ photographs on a Twitter site Russian-ultras.com that showed England fans covered in blood with such comments as ‘Fight’ and other inflammatory remarks.
About 10 football hooligans from the Paris gang, the Boulogne Boys, have joined Russian Ultras in Marseille, La Provence newspaper reported. A heavily pregnant woman and her toddler son was dropped off on a tourist boat and found herself caught up in the scenes.
The Spanish woman, who did not want to be named, said: “This is the most beautiful corner of Marseille. It makes me sick to see the English behave like this.
“How can they allow England to play in these tournaments if they behave like this. Throw them out.”
Gerard Channoux, 71, who lives in an apartment overlooking the square, added: “The English are the same. Drink and sun is a cocktail for them. I’m not surprised by this.”
England coach Roy Hodgson had urged fans to “avoid any troubles lurking around the corner.” Gary Toal, an England fan from the northern city of Newcastle, said the violence in Marseille was overshadowing Euro 2016.
“It’s not everybody but there are a lot of people involved,” Mr Toal said. “It is a bit of a mob mentality and it’s not nice to see so we are trying to keep away from all that and enjoy the football.”
Some background info on the Russians
