Police intervene in ice hockey clashes

Ice hockey fans have clashed on the first night of the Swiss 2009-2010 championship.

Police used rubber bullets and pepper spray to break up fighting between fans following Friday’s match between EHC Biel and Genève-Servette.

The trouble started when two buses carrying fans from the teams arrived at the Biel railway station at the same time. Several thousand francs worth of damage was caused and one man was taken to hospital for checks. Police took five people in for questioning.

At the Kolping Arena Kloten, a policeman was injured while intervening in fighting before a Kloten Flyers-Rapperswil-Jona Lakers game.

Lakers fans lit fireworks on arriving at the match and around 300 people, many wearing masks, tried to force their way into the stadium. Police used pepper spray to disperse the groups and took nine people in for questioning.

swissinfo.ch and agencies