One of the bus drivers carrying fans of the Pistoia basketball team was killed last night after fans of rival team Sebastiani from Rieti attacked the bus on the highway.
The unfortunate driver was sitting in the front of the bus next to the driver who was driving the bus at the time. He passed away after having it a brick hit his headwrites the Italian news agency ANSA, reports Index.
The attack took place on the Rieti-Terni highway, about 80 kilometers northeast of Rome. Sebastiani fans threw stones and other objects at a bus leaving Rieti after a match in the second Italian league.
Minister of Sports: These thugs cannot be called fans
Emergency services, along with several police and carabinieri patrols, responded immediately, but attempts to save the driver’s life were unsuccessful. A police investigation is ongoing in an attempt to find those responsible for the attack.
Italian Minister of Sports Andrea Abodi expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased.
How can someone die like thison your way home from a basketball game? The attack that was committed tonight near Rieti by thugs who became murderers and who can never be called fans is shocking. Sport is life, and these criminals are light years away from sporting values, wrote Abodi on Xu.
The entire community of Rieti condemns this despicable act with indignation which has nothing to do with Rieti or sports, said the mayor Daniele Sinibaldi on social networks, expressing the hope “that the circumstances of the incident will be determined immediately and that justice will be served”.
Clubs announced
The reactions of both clubs have also arrived. The Pistoia basketball club announced that they “received with horror the news that one of the two bus drivers who was transporting fans returning from the away game in Rieti was killed.”
In light of the initial reports that have emerged and pending official findings, the club expresses shock due to the circumstances that led to the accident. President Joseph David and the entire Club express their condolences to the driver’s family and share the grief of his loved ones, they added in the press release.
What happened after the match against Pistoia leaves us shocked. The bus carrying visiting fans, on the way home, was subjected to an unspeakable act: it was pelted with stones, which resulted in the death of one of the bus drivers, stated from the basketball club Sebastiani.
Sebastian himself completely shuts off from what happened and expresses its deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of the tragically deceased driver. This is a very serious matter and the investigators, in whom we have full confidence, will shed light on it. We are talking about facts that have nothing to do with sports and are completely distant from the values that we try to maintain every day as a club, they pointed out.
(www.jabuka.tv)
