A 41-year-old man is in critical condition in the ICU after being hit by a car at the gates of Espanyol stadium.

Cornellà de LlobregatMajor scare at the gates of the RCDE Stadium in Cornellà minutes before the derby between Barça and Espanyol. According to sources from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), it is being treated as an accident. Seventeen people were injured, according to the latest update from the Department of Health. The man was admitted with a head injury that eventually became complicated. The government is to bring her before a judge once she has been discharged.

The incident occurred at 9 p.m., with half an hour to go before kickoff. The car was traveling through an area filled with blue and white fans and became trapped between the crowd and two trash containers that the fans had previously placed in the middle of the road. According to sources consulted by ARA, the driver was believed to be a local resident and drove out of the parking lot, very close to the stadium. In other words, she had not missed any police checkpoints restricting traffic in the area. At this point, tensions escalated, with many people heckling the driver, throwing objects at the car, and breaking some windows. Amid the tension, and with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) attempting to control the situation, the driver lost control and hit several people in front of her. The driver's erratic trajectory led her to a pedestrian zone, where she ended up crashing into some barriers.

"She found herself surrounded by fans and, for some unclear reason, at one point tried to accelerate," said Commissioner Eduard Sallent, head of the northern metropolitan region of the Mossos d'Esquadra, in a subsequent press conference. Sallent added that the driver "felt besieged" and described it as a "fortuitous and accidental" incident. The commissioner clarified that the road she was traveling on was not blocked at that point (she had left the same neighborhood) and that she was not traveling at an excessive speed. "We must determine why she made this maneuver," said Sallent. In fact, according to sources consulted by ARA, the Mossos d'Esquadra received an initial warning of a trapped car, so at the time of the collision, public order officers were deployed and were trying to clear the way. A Mossos d'Esquadra public order officer was injured.

The incident occurred at one of the stadium's entrances, where there were many people. According to sources from the Mossos d'Esquadra and Espanyol, this is an area where many people tend to gather before entering the stadium, where there is a park and the railway station nearby. However, they rule out the possibility that it is a particularly conflictive area where altercations often occur before matches.

An accident

The president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, who was on the pitch to follow the match, confirmed during halftime that it was an accident and that no one was seriously injured. One of the people hit was the son of Badalona's mayor, Xavier Garcia Albiol. City Hall sources explained that he is fine, but that the vehicle hit his foot. A Mossos d'Esquadra officer and the driver of the vehicle were also injured.

The match is not suspended

The match hadn't even reached the 10th minute when Joan Garcia, Espanyol's goalkeeper, stopped the game because he saw the supporters behind his goal demanding his attention. Dozens of Espanyol fans, belonging to the Canito Stand, were demanding that the match be stopped due to the mass attack that had occurred near the RCDE Stadium. The stadium's PA system had just announced that the attack was under control "with no serious injuries." Referee César Soto Grado then went to the dugout area to request more information from the relevant authorities. After speaking briefly with a Mossos d'Esquadra official, he indicated that the match should continue. Sallent explained that suspension of the match had been considered, but given that the injuries were minor, that "there was no impact on security," and that it was not a "case of terrorism," it was decided that the match could continue.

But the decision didn't go down well with the members of the Canito Stand, many of whom left the stadium in protest. After the match, Espanyol fans expressed outrage. Those who witnessed the incident criticized the driver for speeding "despite having a crowd in front of her" and that there were people who "could have died."