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Boy run over and killed after France win in World Cup tie

Police in Montpellier, southern France, are hunting for the driver of a car which ran into and killed a young teenage boy during clashes which followed Wednesday evening's World Cup match between France and Morocco

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

A 14-year-old boy has been run over and killed in the southern French city of Montpellier shortly after France's World Cup semi-final victory over Morocco, reports BBC News.

Authorities said he was struck by a car after the match and then died in hospital.

Images on social media showed a car draped in a French tricolour surrounded by people who then grabbed the flag.

The driver then appeared to panic, accelerating into two teenagers.

As he turned his car around and sped off, the 14-year-old was hit and went into cardiac arrest.

"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.

Mayor Michaël Delafosse said everyone was appalled and in shock at "this terrible tragedy", and wished that perpetrators of "this cowardly act" be brought to justice.

Read more of this report from BBC News.