Two fans die as France's World Cup celebrations are marred by police violence
Two football fans have died in France overnight as World Cup celebrations were marred by violence following the national side's victory over Croatia in Moscow.
Police forces fired tear gas as scuffles and pockets of looting broke out on the Champs-Élysées where a million people partied into the night.
Revellers set off smoke bombs in the national colours - blue, white and red - obscuring Napoleon's triumphal arch as police tackled the crowd using water canons, the Daily Mail reports.
People climbed atop every newspaper kiosk and bus stop in the area to wave flags and lead the crowds below in cheers. The national anthem, the Marseillaise, rang out, cars honked horns and cherry bombs cracks. Looters broke into shop fronts and smashed windows before they were driven back by riot police brandishing shields.
In the Alpine city of Annecy, a 50-year-old France fan broke his neck after jumping into a canal at the end of the team's 4-2 triumph. Then, in nearby Saint-Felix, there was another death when a man in his 30s crashed his car into a tree as he celebrated the win.
Hundreds of police in riot gear were discretely lined up on side streets to monitor revelers. Typically, celebrations in France end up with some broken shop windows and other destruction, and Sunday was no exception.
Tear gas was lobbed at one point on the Champs-Elysees. About 4,000 police watched over the fan zone - packed to its 90,000 capacity - during the match, then moved to the Champs-Elysees and neighboring streets.
About 30 people, many wearing ski masks, broke into the Publicis Drugstore, leaving with bottles of wine and champagne, smiling and filming themselves with cellphones.
Some also threw objects including bottles and chairs at police forces who responded with tear gas.
"That's not how you celebrate," a tearful bystander wearing a French team jersey said.
As the hundreds of thousands of revellers gradually left the famous avenue, police used water cannon to disperse remaining troublemakers at around 11.30pm.
Elsewhere in France, authorities said clashes erupted in the southern city of Lyon between police and about 100 youths who had climbed on top of a police vehicle at an open-air showing of the match in the city centre.
As night fell, The Eiffel Tower flashed 1998-2018 to mark France's two World Cup titles.
The Arc de Triomph was awash in the national colours, lit with the rooster, the faces of the winning team and the words 'Proud to be Blue,' or French. The celebrations were spread across the nation.
For all the crazy antics - and some revellers who got out of control - a sense of patriotism and unity was almost visceral.
Earlier the crowds had gathered next to the Eiffel tower to watch the match on vast TV screens.
There were choruses of the Marseillaise and hundreds of thousands of red, white and blue French flags fluttering in the breeze.
The boom of fireworks and firecrackers filled the air and car drivers honked their horns incessantly to celebrate France's second world title after their triumph on home soil in 1998.
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