Marseille resembled a war zone on Saturday night after Russian and English football hooligans clashed in running battles that left one supporter fighting for his life, reports The Telegraph.
As fresh waves of violence flared near the Stade Velodrome, police confirmed the worst hit victim was a 51-year-old England supporter.
The English fan suffered ‘horrific’ head injuries amid claims that Russian ‘ultras’, armed with knives and metal poles, had ambushed rival fans.
The sheer scale of the violence overshadowed the start of the Euro 2016 football tournament ahead of England’s opening game in the French city.
Photographs showed the England fan lying on the ground with blood pouring from a head wound while a French police officer tried to revive him. The critically injured English fan was ambushed near the city’s Hard Rock Cafe.
He appeared to have been repeatedly kicked in the head. Six other people were described as "serious injured" with dozens of others, mainly English fans, also treated for wounds.
Matthieu Duroselle, spokesman for Marseille police, said: "There is one English fan that has been badly injured.
"His heart stopped but it was restarted by a police officer who provided heart massage at the scene."
Also in the Timone hospital was a "young man" from England who had been "slashed across the face" by Russian thugs.
He said the rioting involved "English, Russian and a few French fans".
Eyewitnesses described how the man showed signs of life after officers carried out CPR for about two minutes. “He got knocked to the ground and kicked in the head for nothing.
He was not doing anything when some lads attacked him - French, Russian - I don’t know who they were,” claimed one English fan. In other clashes, an unidentified assailant smashed a chair over the head of a man on crutches.
Television footage showed the man collapsing and falling down stone steps near the city centre.