In Montpellier, a southern French city, a 14-year-old boy was run over and killed shortly after France defeated Morocco in the World Cup semi-final.
After the match, according to the authorities, he was hit by a car and later died in the hospital.
Images shared on social media showed a car covered in a French tricolour, which was later seized by onlookers.
The driver then accelerated into two teenagers, seemingly in a panic.
The 14-year-old was struck and suffered a cardiac arrest as the driver turned around and sped away.
“Immense sadness that a sporting event should end in total tragedy,” said local MP Nathalie Oziol, who expressed her sympathy with the boy’s family.
The local prefect in the southern Hérault area said the car was later found abandoned not far from the scene of the accident, and police have begun searching for the driver.
#FRAMAR d’un côté les supporters marocains de l’autre les supporters français. Tirs de mortiers à plein régime pic.twitter.com/H3HI4xJFP5
— Midi Libre Montpellier (@MLMontpellier) December 14, 2022
The incident happened in Montpellier’s north-western district of La Paillade, around half an hour after the final whistle in Qatar, where France beat Morocco 2-0.
Tensions between France and Morocco supporters briefly spilled over in the centre of the city as flares were lit and police responded with tear gas. France has a large Moroccan community of some 1.5 million people.
Celebrations in cities across France were largely peaceful, although police used tear gas to halt trouble involving far-right youths in the centre of Lyon.
Ten thousand police were deployed across the country and a reported 167 arrests were reported nationally.