Italian Police arrest suspects over deadly football match screening stampede

Several people suspected of causing a deadly stampede during the open-air screening of 2017 Champions League final have been arrested, Italian police said on Friday.

The Polizia di Stato announced the arrests on Twitter, without saying how many people had been apprehended.

The ANSA and Adnkronos news agencies reported eight arrests.

A police spokesman said more details would be given at a press conference at noon (1000 GMT).

According to ANSA, police have identified a group of robbers who created panic in the crowd at Turin’s Piazza San Carlo by using pepper spray on their victims.

Crowds had assembled in the central square on June 3, 2017, to watch local team Juventus play Real Madrid, though the Italian club lost the match 4-1.

On the night, over 1,500 people were injured in a stampede, many falling on broken glass on the floor, while a woman who suffered a heart attack, later died in hospital.

Report says Mayor Chiara Appendino and about a dozen other officials are under investigation for manslaughter and other crimes, and are likely to go on trial over the incident.