Soccer Fans Riot in Brussels ---- 35 Dead, Hundreds Hurt : Most of Victems Trampled

At least 35 people were killed and hundreds injured in a riot between English and Italian fans today before the start of the European soccer cup final, and police said the death toll could climb.

They said most of the dead appeared to be Italians, trampled to death when fences broke down under the pressure of rioting supporters of Liverpool of England and Juventus of Turin, Italy. In Europe, the game is equivalent in magnitude to football’s Super Bowl in the United States.

Brussels Fire Brigade spokesman Francis Boileau described the scene as “a big war picture.”

Scores of bodies were lying on the ground outside the stadium, covered with black and white flags of the Juventus team, which they had carried on to the sports field. Belgian police reinforcements and army units were called to the stadium, the biggest in Belgium, with a capacity of 65,000.

Most Violent in History

A senior ambulance official on the scene said the death toll might go as high as 50 in the clash, the most violent in European professional soccer history.

It was the second soccer stadium disaster in Europe this month, following the fire in early May that killed 53 people in Bradford, England.

Authorities said the rioting started about an hour before scheduled start of the game when fans of the teams began throwing soft drink cans at each other over a 6 1/2-foot fence dividing the factions in the stands.

They said the English fans tore down the fence and broke into the Italian section, waving sticks and cans and lighting fires. Thousands of Italians surged onto the field, delaying the start of the game.

‘No Escape Possible’

Boileau said English fans forced the Italians back against a brick wall. “They were literally crushed,” he said. “There was no escape possible.”

Boileau added that some Italian fans in back rows jumped over the wall and fell 15 feet, but part of the wall collapsed on them.

“Most of the victims were trampled under foot,” one witness quoted by Belgian television said. “It was terrible. People were lyingdying on the stands before our eyes.”

Almost an hour after the collapse, there was sporadic fighting on the terraces and beside the playing field.

The start of the match was delayed and players went onto the field to appeal for calm. Soccer officials started the game, 90 minutes late, because further rioting was feared if it were canceled.

Crowd Overran Police

According to witnesses, a few dozen policemen who tried to stop the rioting were soon overrun and trampled by the crowd. After 15 minutes of fierce battling, several stretchers were brought into the stadium to carry away injured fans.

During the height of the disturbance, Liverpool supporters grabbed Italian flags and banners and set fire to them while Italians in other sections of the stadium also invaded the field and marched toward the corner where the Liverpool fans were located.

After about 20 minutes, Belgian police riot squads with mounted horses and dogs forced the Liverpool fans back into their section and set up a thick cordon of security between the two sections of the stands.

“This is the defeat of soccer, the end of the European Cup,” former French national coach Michel Hidalgo said. “We are all guilty.”