Bohs fans suspected as woman fights for her life
Austrian police were last night searching for a group of suspected Bohemians soccer fans who left an elderly woman in a critical condition in hospital.
Police in the city of Salzburg say that three English-speaking men injured the 83-year-old, who remained in a coma last night, after attempting to steal a motorbike on Tuesday night.
Police have launched an intensive hunt for the men, believed to be fans of the League of Ireland champions, who drew 1-1 with Red Bull Salzburg in the first leg of a Champions League qualifier in the city last night.
Witnesses say the woman hit her head when one of the men knocked her over as he was running away.
Several searches of local bars and hotels were carried out by police, who took a number of Bohemians fans in for questioning before releasing them without charge.
Police said they believe the men they are looking for are Irish football fans because they spoke English and are likely to be one of hundreds of Bohemians fans that were in the city for the match.
But the honorary secretary of Bohemians, Gerry Conway, told the Irish Independent that there is no evidence at this stage to show that the club’s fans were responsible for the incident.
“All the police know is that they spoke English - there were obviously other English-speaking men in the city of Salzburg that night,” said Mr Conway, speaking from Salzburg.
He added that the thoughts of the Dublin club are with the woman and her family, and that the club condemns the violence, whether it was carried out “by a Bohemians fan or anyone else”.
FAI head of security Joe McGlue said that the association was still in the process of gathering information about the incident.
“We’re speaking to the police and to the embassy about it but until we know more, and until the three men responsible for this are found it’s impossible to say more.”
Austrian bus driver Wolfgang Tutschka witnessed the incident and said that when the men realised they had been spotted stealing a bike they became “instantly aggressive”.
He said that an onlooker tried to stop them escaping with the bike, but the men then began to assault him.
“They punched and kicked him repeatedly and it was awful to watch,” Mr Tutschka said, adding that the three men ran off when they heard police sirens approaching and ran into the elderly woman who was walking with her husband on a nearby street.
Police say they only had a description for one of the men, who was wearing a black T-shirt when he was last seen.
Local police chief Andreas Huber said he believed the three were Bohemians fans, adding that a “large number of officers have been checking pubs in the city and we have several suspects who we are currently investigating”.
Police spokesman Harald Hoffmann said that there was a “strong possibility that alcohol played a significant role in what happened that night”.
:D:D:D:D:D