Last June eight “youths” caused panic among soccer fans in Turin by spraying pepper spray into the crowd for the purposes of robbery. A number of people were hurt in the stampede, and one died.

Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating the Italian news report below, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Below is the accompanying article from Il Giornale, also translated by Fousesquawk:

Piazza San Carlo, 8 Magrebians (North Africans) arrested: Irritant spray to rob those present Those arrested are eight who unleashed panic in Piazza San Carlo during the finals between Juventus and Real Madrid. “They used irritant spray in order to rob those present” An irritant spray was spread among the crowd in order to rob those present. It was this which unleashed panic at Piazza San Carlo in Turin the evening of last June 3, during the finals of the Champions League between Juventus and Real Madrid. Due to the incident, this morning eight persons were arrested — all adults of North African origin — accused of trying to rob fans, creating a stampede in which a woman died and thousands of persons were left injured. The group was identified by (electronic) intercepts within the scope of another case in which they spoke of a necklace stolen in the square. [See video above] The eight arrestees had a modus operandi also similar to other occasions. In fact, it seems that they could be the same as last October, during the concert by Elisa on the occasion of the inauguration of the Major Repairs Workshop, they spread spray among the crowd. Also being investigated for the incident is Chiara Appendino, accused together with 21 other persons of manslaughter, culpable injury and culpable disaster for their management of the square on the occasion of such an important event. “I have been notified by the prosecutor’s office of Turin of the act with the closing of the investigations of Piazza San Carlo,” said the mayor of Turin yesterday. “I remain at the disposal of the magistrature, as I have always been”. And the legal representation of the injured is not singing victory. “The news of the arrests is positive, but the fact remains that on June 3, the management of Piazza San Carlo was not optimum,” said the attorney Stefano Gubernati. “The prosecutor has conducted the case very carefully. Now it is to understand if the involved actors take responsibility.”

An English-language report from ANSA:

Italy: Eight Arrested for Causing Turin Soccer Stampede

One woman killed, 1,500 injured after panic swept square (ANSA) – Turin, April 13 – Turin police on Friday staged an operation to arrest eight people suspected of causing the panic that led to a deadly stampede among people watching the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid that killed one woman and injured 1,500 in a Turin square last June, sources said. The arrested people are suspected of trying to commit robberies by using pepper spray, thus causing the panic that swept through the northern city’s Piazza San Carlo square as fans watched the match on a big screen, the sources said. Police said those arrested are a group of young men between the ages of 18-20 from North African countries, five of whom have Italian citizenship. The group conducted a series of robberies during large public events in northern Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium by using pepper spray, police said. In Italy, these events included an Elisa concert in Turin in September 2017 and a Verona dance club in January 2018, in addition to the Turin soccer final, police said. Police said four of the eight were present at the Turin soccer final, one of whom, Sohaib Bouimadaghen, an Italian citizen born in Ciriè in 1998 and Turin resident, confessed following his arrest Friday. On Thursday a probe into responsibility in relation to the stampede ended and requests for indictments are set to be made, judicial sources said. Mayor Chiara Appendino and the city’s police chief and prefect are among those probed. One of the charges against two of those arrested on Friday is injury resulting in death, with relation to victim Erika Pioletti. Pioletti, 38, died at Turin’s Giovanni Bosco hospital two weeks after suffering a crush-induced heart attack in the stampede. Pioletti, from the northern city of Domodossola, had travelled to the city to watch the match with her boyfriend, a big Juventus fan. Another woman, who was out for a walk with her husband and was not in the area for the game, was left severely disabled by the stampede. Many of the people who were injured have given harrowing reports of being trampled on, or trampling on others. Juve lost the match 4-1 to Real Madrid.

Video transcript:

00:00 A gang of youths of Maghrebian (North African) origin specializing in robbery using irritant spray 00:06 From what has been ascertained by the Turin prosecutor, it is involved in the events that 00:10 unleashed panic in Piazza San Carlo on June 3rd 2017 on the occasion 00:14 of the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid. 00:17 On that evening, in the square, there were definitely four of the ten young men 00:21 who were brought before judicial proceedings not only involved in the events at Piazza San Carlo. 00:27 It concerns, in particular, six judicial proceedings of precautionary custody in jail, 00:33 one in house arrest, and three obligated to present themselves to judicial police. 00:37 One of the youths arrested for the events in Piazza San Carlo, a 20-year-old Italian citizen 00:42 and resident of Turin, confessed to the robbery. 00:45 In the apartments of the accused were found necklaces, watches and chains belonging to the fans 00:50 who that evening had gone to the square to see the game. 00:54 The group was comprised of youths, almost all of Moroccan origin, but with Italian citizenship, 00:59 except for three Moroccan citizens with residence permits as well as an Egyptian citizen. 01:04 As for the four of the band identified in Piazza San Carlo, 01:08 thanks also to the information from their cell phones, all are in jail. 01:12 The possible charges are for robbery, aggravated injuries, multiple injuries 01:19 and unintentional homicide pertaining to the death of Erika Pioletti. The group had committed 01:23 various similar attacks on the occasions of events and shows, 01:26 among which was that of last September 30 at the Ogr of Turin 01:30 during the concert by Elisa, interrupted by the cloud of irritant sprayed through the crowd.



Hat tip for the ANSA: Insubria.