investigation opened after the brawl between supporters, up to one million euros in damage – Libération

Shortly before the Coupe de France final on Saturday, clashes broke out between supporters of the Parisian and Lyon clubs at a toll booth on the A1 motorway, leaving dozens injured.

A charred bus, thirty supporters and eight slightly injured police officers. Before the final of the French Football Cup on Saturday, clashes broke out around 6 p.m. between PSG and OL supporters at a toll booth on the A1 motorway in Pas-de-Calais, around forty kilometers from the Villeneuve-d’Ascq stadium where the Coupe de France final took place.

A flagrant investigation was opened for aggravated destruction of other people’s property by fire, damage in meetings and violence in meetings but no perpetrator has yet been identified this Monday, May 27, the Arras public prosecutor’s office announced in the evening . “A long investigation began on the evening of the events and will be based in particular on the use of videos and cell phones, on information from sports clubs, as well as on the various testimonies collected,” declared the prosecutor Sylvain Barbier Sainte Marie in a press release.

“The criminal investigation must precisely determine the exact course of events, identify the victims and identify the people involved,” also specifies the Arras prosecutor’s office. from France Info. The investigation was entrusted to the research section of the Lille-Villeneuve d’Ascq national gendarmerie.

According to the testimonies of victims collected by The Parisian in particular, as well as the revelations of the newspaper the teamdysfunctions in the organization of law enforcement played a notable role in the occurrence of this violence, even though the match was classified as very high risk.

Slowdowns expected for several weeks

Earlier in the day, the motorway concession company Sanef announced that it had filed a complaint after the clashes. She also estimated between 500,000 and one million euros the amount of damage caused by the brawl at the Fresnes-lès-Montauban toll booth. The provisional estimate of the damage will have to be refined in the coming days, added the Sanef communications department, warning that this damage should lead to slowdowns.

Two traffic lanes were burned and the toll canopy “heavily damaged” following the fire on a Lyon bus, the company said, adding that three additional lanes also had to be closed due to damage to the awning. Three other traffic lanes were already neutralized before this episode for work linked to the Olympic Games, so that only eight lanes out of 16 remained accessible on Monday, she lists. In a press release released on Sunday evening, Sanef also indicated that supporters had “invaded and vandalized staff premises”. “Significant slowdowns are expected for several weeks, until the infrastructure is completely restored,” the company stressed.