Northern Ireland fan dies while in Nice for Euro 2016Darren Rodgers, 25, dies after falling eight metres from Promenade des Anglais on to a rocky beachA Northern Ireland fan who died in a seafront accident in Nice while attending the Euro 2016 football championships has been named as Darren Rodgers, an amateur football player from Ballymena.
The 25-year-old died after falling eight metres from the Promenade des Anglais on to a rocky beach.
Supt Nigel Goddard, who is leading the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s security operations during the tournament, said his French counterparts confirmed it was an accident.
“I believe it was an accident – not in any way disorderly related, obviously a personal tragedy. This was in the early hours, on his own, quite possibly had a bit of drink taken. He had fallen from the promenade on to rock beach,” he said.
The man fell about eight metres, according to a French police spokesman. “It seems it was drink. He was walking and went over the barrier. Because he was drinking he crossed the barrier and fell eight metres,” he said.
A French police spokesman said the accident happened at about 2am on Monday, after the match between Northern Ireland and Poland.
Nice’s four-mile Promenade des Anglais is famed as a landmark of the city. Below it lies a rocky pebble beach. It is a popular walking and cycling route and was thronged with supporters returning from the match on Sunday night.
Many of the fans had congregated around the area of the Place Massena in the old part of the city.
Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, who attended the match, expressed her condolences to the family of the man who died.
“The whole atmosphere was one of great excitement, great joy – all the Northern Ireland fans and Polish fans were having a tremendous experience, a tremendous time together,” Foster said in a statement on Monday. “So it is tremendously sad news to hear this morning that a young fan has lost his life.
“I do, of course, want to express my deepest sympathy to the family back home in Northern Ireland. It is news that will come to them as a terrible shock. A young man going out there to have the trip of a lifetime and to be told that this has happened; it just is really shocking.”
Tributes have been paid on Rodgers’ Facebook page, with one friend describing him as a “gentleman”.
Another said: “Such a down to earth guy and would never walk past without a chat. Terrible news to wake up to. All you wanted was to go to France and support your country like everyone else, rest easy.”
Paul Frew, a North Antrim Democratic Unionist party member of the Northern Ireland assembly, said he had been speaking to the young football player on Sunday.
On the Braid United website, Rodgers is described as a defensive midfielder who scored nine goals last season for the Co Antrim team.
Several Northern Ireland players expressed sympathy with the man’s family. The team will wear black armbands for their next match, against Ukraine on Thursday.
In a statement, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association, Patrick Nelson, said: “On behalf of the board, management, players and staff of the Irish Football Association, I would like to express my deep sadness at the tragic death of a Northern Ireland supporter in Nice in the early hours of this morning.
“The thoughts of everyone at the association are with his family and friends at this time.”
Northern Ireland lost 1-0 to Poland in their first match of the tournament.
Guardian
