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Two people killed and hundreds arrested in France during Champions League win celebrations

Two people killed and hundreds arrested in France during Champions League win celebrations
PSG supporters invade the Champs-Elysees avenue after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, Saturday, May 31, 2025 in Paris.   -  
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Thomas Padilla/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved.

Champions League

French authorities say two people died after celebrations around the country for Paris Saint-Germain’s historic Champions League victory, European club football's biggest prize.

A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party, according to the national police.

Another person was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said. The circumstances of both deaths are being investigated.

Fireworks explode over riot police officers on the Champs-Elysees avenue after the Champions League final on Sunday, 1 June 2025
Fireworks explode over riot police officers on the Champs-Elysees avenue after the Champions League final on Sunday, 1 June 2025 Aurelien Morissard/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved.

“True PSG fans are getting excited about their team’s magnificent performance. Meanwhile, barbarians have taken to the streets of Paris to commit crimes and provoke law enforcement," French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau commented in a post on social media on Saturday after the game.

"It is unbearable that it is not possible to party without fearing the savagery of a minority of thugs who respect nothing.”

A police officer was accidentally hit by fireworks in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries, the national police service said.

The interior ministry said 18 police officers in Paris were injured, along with three elsewhere in France, as were 192 people celebrating in the streets.

A total of 294 people were arrested by 2 am, although the celebrations were mostly peaceful, apart from the descent into violence in some areas.