The glittering royal blue party in the Veltins Arena has a sad aftermath.
After the final whistle of the second division game against St. Pauli (3:2) on Saturday evening there was no stopping them. Cheering Schalke supporters storm the square.
Emotions as far as the eye can see. But: The crazy party just barely missed a bad catastrophe.
There are crowds in different places in the stands. Several people fell and were injured.
According to BILD information, eight injured fans are still in the hospital on Monday, one of them even in intensive care because of a brain hemorrhage. He fell while climbing over the parapet in the fan block.
In some cases, the pressure on the fans on the front parapet is said to have been so great that police officers had to rescue the fans with mobile ladders. Otherwise they would have been literally crushed.
A police officer was injured in a scuffle with a Schalke fan and subsequent resistance on the Arena Ring. After that he was no longer able to work.
In addition, the police are investigating several reports against Schalke players, who are said to have run across the lawn with Pyros in their hands after the pitch storm.
This is a violation of the Explosives Act.
Schalke returned to the Bundesliga on Saturday night, a year after the bitter relegation. The Royal Blues turned a 2-0 half-time deficit against fellow promotion favorite St. Pauli into a 3-2 win and are thus the first promoted team on the penultimate matchday. Schalke used the match point thanks to Darmstadt’s mistake on Friday (1: 2 in Düsseldorf). The mega promotion party of 62,000 fans in the sold-out arena started with the final whistle and ended at 5:29 a.m.
It is to be hoped that the eight royal blue fans will get better soon.
