Fans fight in the streets, European Championship city in danger: police shoot suspects
Dangerous situations occurred in several host cities of the 2024 European Football Championship on the 16th. Hamburg police opened fire and subdued suspects armed with weapons and Molotov cocktails in the fan parade district. A street fight broke out between English and Serbian fans in Gelsenkirchen.
On the 16th, the European Championship group match between the Netherlands and Poland was held in Hamburg. About 13,000 Dutch fans celebrated and paraded near the famous tourist attraction Reeperbahn in Hamburg in the afternoon. After the parade, a man holding a sharp weapon and a Molotov cocktail threatened passers-by.
The Hamburg Police Department issued a notice on the evening of the 16th saying that the man, 39 years old, walked out of a snack bar and onto the street. The police asked him to put down the sharp weapon and the Molotov cocktail, but the man ignored the request and ran towards the crowd, trying to light the Molotov cocktail. The police used pepper spray on him, but failed to stop him from continuing to threaten passers-by. The police then shot him down and sent him to the hospital for treatment. Some Dutch fans were near the scene of the incident. After the incident, a cordon was set up at the scene, and some sections of the Rope Street were affected.
A Hamburg police spokesman said it was not yet clear what the man's motive was and there was no proof the incident was related to football.
The match between England and Serbia was held in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on the evening of the 16th. Before the match, a street fight broke out between two groups of people in the city center. Serbian fans and English fans were involved in the fight and several fans were arrested. The cause of the incident is still unclear and the local police did not provide details such as the number of injured.
Gelsenkirchen police have previously revealed that they will deploy more police forces than during the "Ruhr derby" to deal with possible situations at key matches of the European Championship.
It is estimated that 20,000 English fans and 10,000 Serbian fans entered the stadium to watch the game. Police estimated that there were 15,000 English fans watching the game in the city's public fan area. Police revealed that only low-alcohol beer was allowed to be sold in the stadium, and fans were prohibited from bringing beer to their seats.
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