PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2019) The Paris police used tear gas to suppress fans of Algeria's national football team as the celebration of the team's victory in the Africa Cup of Nations got violent, a Sputnik correspondent reported early on Saturday.
Algeria secured the 1-0 victory over Senegal, claiming the cup for the second time, during a game in Cairo on Friday.
Later that day, thousands of people gathered around Arc de Triomphe in downtown Paris soon after the game ended. They brought flags of Algeria, flares and firecrackers with them. The crowd nearly blocked off roads around the monument.
Tensions grew later in the day, as firecrackers and fireworks were blowing up all over the area and hundreds of people were shouting.
Moreover, some fans began throwing glass bottles and stones at the police, prompting officers to use tear gas.
There are a lot of thieves inside the crowd. The Sputnik correspondent twice saw people running after thieves to get back phones stolen from them. One of the chases was successful and the person, helped by passersby and the crew of the RT broadcaster, got his phone back. Still, one of the journalists working in the crowed got her phone pulled out of her hands by a teenage boy who ran away.
