A LILLE SUPPORTER said he could not hear or see anything after a surge of supporters celebrating a goal led to a barrier collapsing at a Ligue 1 game in France yesterday evening.
Eighteen Lille supporters were hurt in Amiens on Saturday when a stadium barrier collapsed in the away section as supporters celebrated their side taking the lead.
Most of the victims of the incident were discharged from hospital on Sunday morning, except six people who sustained serious injuries when the pitch-side barrier gave way, sending dozens of people tumbling on top of each other.
Referee Thomas Leonard suspended the match in the 16th minute as Red Cross and emergency workers rushed to help the injured, while prosecutors have since opened an investigation.
“It happened all of a sudden,” said Georges Penel, a 21-year-old Lille fan who suffered injuries to his leg and back.
“I don’t even know who scored. It just suddenly fell on me. I couldn’t hear anything, I couldn’t see anything and then the emergency workers took me away.”
Built in 1999, the Stade de la Licorne (“Stadium of the Unicorn”) is the smallest of the 20 French Ligue 1 clubs, with a capacity of only 12,000.
Renovation work is taking place throughout the 2017-18 season, but Amiens chairman Bernard Joannin ruled out any link between improvements to the stadium and Saturday’s accident.
“We shouldn’t mix up work being done on the roof and the rest of the stadium, which has been checked and approved by all of the security commissions,” he told a press conference on Sunday morning.
In May, local politician Alain Gest had suggested that upkeep of the stadium had been neglected by previous local administrations but was now “perfectly in line with regulations” and “up to standards for playing in Ligue 1″.
The mayor of Lille, leading Socialist party figure Martine Aubry called for calm on Twitter, saying: “Let’s stop the arguments. Think about the victims first and let’s wait for the enquiry results.”
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