Fans clashed with police after celebrating win over SpainGovernment asks public to stop barbecuing due to smog

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Tens of thousands of Chile fans staged wild celebrations in Santiago after their dramatic 2-0 World Cup victory over Spain, with street parties spilling over into violence and clashes with police.

Hours after 85 Chile fans were arrested in Brazil for storming the media centre at the Maracanã before kick-off, supporters back home poured on to the streets around Sanitago’s Plaza Italia to celebrate, having seen their team knock the reigning champions out of the tournament.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The party in Santiago ended in clashes with police and reported looting. Photograph: Pablo Rojas Madariaga/REX

The celebrations, which led to fires, damage to a reported 300 city buses and a huge clean-up operation, involved what local media described as a “red swarm” of office workers and locals in team colours, waving flags.

Shares in both Chile’s biggest brewery and its biggest winemaker were reported to have jumped more than 3%.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fans celebrate the result in Santiago.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A reported 300 buses were damaged as the party spilled over, leaving a huge clean-up operation. Photograph: Eugenia_Paz/Demotix/Corbis

The celebrations were part of a huge response to the World Cup across Chile – an enthusiasm which prompted the government to ask people to stop having World Cup barbecues due to a growing smog problem.

“When we have low winds and we’re at critical levels what we are saying is that people should avoid burning charcoal because that makes the air quality worse,” said the government official Claudio Orrego. “I’ve been the butt of a lot of jokes for this and I take it with humour, but I also urge people to take it seriously.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The final whistle reaction. Photograph: Claudio Reyes/AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the government minister Alvaro Elizalde tweeted a photo of himself with the president, Michelle Bachelet, who had watched the game on television in the presidential Palacio de La Moneda: “Celebrating the historic triumph of #LaRoja with President Bachelet.”