Turin, panic in the square over a 'prank' during the Champions League final

Turin was the scene of a night of panic and injuries during the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid. According to initial investigations by the Digos coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the triggering cause appears to have been a "prank" by some young people. An ambiguous gesture by a shirtless fan with a backpack on his shoulders, evoking the pose of a kamikaze, triggered the psychosis of a terrorist attack in Piazza San Carlo.

The crowd, gripped by panic, hastily fled the square, causing a stampede that resulted in injuries to 1,527 people, three of whom were in critical condition, including a 7-year-old boy in a medically induced coma. Two young men were questioned at the police station for ten hours and are currently free, while investigators continue to review hundreds of videos to reconstruct the dynamics of the events.

The incident occurred in the context of a large crowd gathered to watch the Champions League final on giant screens in Piazza San Carlo, the heart of Turin. The collective fear of terrorist attacks, a deeply rooted global concern in recent years, created fertile ground for panic. An ambiguous gesture, a shouted phrase, or an unusual noise is enough to trigger uncontrollable mass reactions in situations of high crowd density.

The situation rapidly deteriorated: the frantic stampede turned the square into a trap, with broken bottles and glass multiplying the number of lacerations. The event highlights the vulnerabilities in managing large public gatherings in an era marked by terrorism-related psychosis. This was not an actual attack, as has happened in London in the past, but rather the fear of an attack that caused significant physical harm, transforming a night of sport into a 'field test' of collective vulnerability.