Confrontations following a basketball game turns deadly, as Rieti club ultras threw bricks and stones at the opposing fans of Pistoia's bus, killing one of the bus drivers. Investigation is under way to identify and apprehend the attackers.
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A bus driver was killed when Sebastiani basketball ultras threw stones and bricks at a coach carrying Pistoia supporters along the Rieti-Terni motorway Sunday evening, in one of the most violent incidents involving Italian sports fans in recent years.
Around 40 Pistoia fans were travelling home after their team's A2 match victory in Rieti when several attackers hiding behind motorway guardrails near the Contigliano junction launched the assault, fatally striking one of the two drivers sitting up front.
Police are questioning about 10 Rieti supporters, though no arrests have been made.
Investigators confirmed multiple people participated in the attack after allegedly following the coach for several kilometres beyond the motorway junction where police escorts had ended.
Tensions had erupted during the match at PalaSojourner arena, requiring police and Carabinieri intervention. Officers escorted the Pistoia supporters' bus to the motorway after the game, but some Rieti ultras reportedly pursued the vehicle.
Pistoia Basket 2000 expressed being "deeply saddened" by the driver's death, adding the club was dismayed by the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
Sebastiani club condemned the attack and distanced itself "completely from what happened," expressing condolences to the driver's family.
"This is a very serious matter on which the investigators, in whom we have full confidence, will shed light. We find ourselves talking about facts that have nothing to do with sport."
Rieti Mayor Daniele Sinibaldi called it a "shocking criminal act," saying the entire community "condemns with outrage this despicable act that has nothing to do with Rieti and sport." He expressed solidarity with the victim's family, Pistoia club and the city.