Football fans pour into Basel

There were long queues at the border crossings near Basel for much of Saturday ahead of the Holland-Russia Euro 2008 quarterfinal.

Dutch fans are said to be responsible for most of the extra traffic. However, the start of the summer holidays in several German states added to the numbers as holidaymakers travelled south.

The border police were expecting the influx and had already increased the number of officers on duty and set up special traffic lanes to divide football fans from other vehicles.

Despite the high temperatures and stop-start traffic, police said the queues had been good-tempered.

The railway stations in Basel also reported an influx of Dutch fans, many of whom are holidaying across the border in Germany or France.

Several special flights from the Netherlands landed during the day in the Euroairport, which serves Basel.

The Dutch ambassador to Switzerland told a Swiss news agency that “several very important people from the royal family” would attend the match.

Some 90,000 Dutch supporters are estimated to have descended on Basel – outnumbering their Russian opponents by about ten to one.

The Basel police advised people on Saturday afternoon not to go into the centre of town, because there were too many people there. Trams stopped running for the same reason.