Argentina’s 2022 World Cup celebrations have been marred by the death of a 24-year-old fan, after he fell through a roof ‘jumping up and down’ celebrating during Tuesday’s victory parade after their dramatic penalty shootout win over France.
Lionel Messi and the rest of Argentina’s players delivered the nation’s first World Cup triumph since 1986 and it caused millions in Argentina to throw parties.
But after Tuesday’s bus parade was cut short due to safety concerns of fans jumping onto the top of the bus with the players, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health detailed how another fan died in hospital on Monday due to a head injury picked up while celebrating.
Details from police in Buenos Aires, published by La Nacíon. say the man was jumping on the roof, celebrating the triumph of the National Team, until (the roof) broke and he fell,leading to fatal injury.
He died from his injuries at the Fernández Hospital in Buenos Aires.
There are also fears over a five-year-old boy that is in a coma after sustaining a serious head injury following an incident in Plaza San Martin, where he was celebrating Argentina’s World Cup triumph with his parents.
La Nacion have also detailed how a piece of marble fell from a monument during the celebrations, striking the child, who is now in intensive care.
More stories of deaths and serious injuries are emerging on a day where Argentina’s World Cup-winning heroes saw their bus parade through Buenos Aires – which brought more than four million people to the streets to celebrate 0 cut short.
Messi and Co had to be evacuated to the sky in helicopters after fans threw projectiles and tried to jump on the team’s bus.
The helicopters carrying the footballers circled low above the skies of the capital including the area around the iconic Obelisk monument as crazed fans chanted and applauded before taking them back to the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) training facilities HQ near Ezeiza Airport where the victory parade had begun around midday.
The streets of the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires had been mobbed with jubilant fans for the open-top bus parade, which was expected to last around eight hours.
It was set to take in landmarks including the iconic Obelisk, where the majority of expectant Argentinian supporters had congregated.
AFA president Chiqui Tapia confirmed in a tweet just before 4pm local time, however, that the bus parade needed to be abandoned.
‘They won’t allow us to greet everyone who was at the Obelisk,’ the tweet read.
‘The security organisations that were escorting us won’t let us continue.
‘I apologise in the name of all the players. A real shame.’
Gabriela Cerruti, an Argentine presidential spokeswoman, tweeted as TV stations broadcast the breath-taking images of the crowds looking upwards towards the players above them in the sky: ‘The world champions are flying along the route they were taking because it was impossible to continue by road with the explosion of happiness.
‘Let’s continue celebrating in peace and showing them our love and admiration.’
The Argentine players had intended to travel on the bus from the AFA training facilities to the Obelisk, where an estimated three million fans congregated after their nation’s thrilling penalty shootout win over France on Sunday.
AFA confirmed a last-minute change of plan on the advice of government safety advisors on Tuesday afternoon before the later decision to switch to the helicopters.
The party mood briefly turned ugly as news the players were instead going to greet fans from the 25 de Mayo motorway seeped out.
There were reports of missiles being thrown at police and footage emerged of crazed fans hijacking a police car and partying on top of it near the Obelisk in the aftermath of the announcement.
Messi and Argentina had earlier returned as heroes as they were greeted by thousands of fans at Ezeiza International Airport after touching down in Buenos Aires.
The national team and the World Cup trophy, which they lifted for a third time Sunday, landed back in Argentina after a roughly 21-hour flight at around 2.20am local time Tuesday morning.
