DHAKA: A number of British people are in hospital in France, the UK’s ambassador has said following a series of clashes between football fans in Marseille.

Violence has broken out between England fans, rival supporters and police for three days in the French port city.

There were also clashes in the stadium following England's 1-1 Euro 2016 draw with Russia, after Russia fans appeared to rush at England supporters.

French police said one Briton had been seriously hurt in the earlier clashes.

Witnesses said trouble began in the stadium after flares were let off by Russian fans near the end of the game. Some fans had then climbed across barriers designed to keep rival fans apart.

An England supporter, who was in the stadium, told the BBC, ‘As soon as the Russian goal went in, the Russian guys, sort of, streamed across’.

‘The segregation wasn’t too great. So it seemed pretty easy for the guys to steam across. It seemed to just sort of separate.’

And another fan said, ‘There were some Russian fans, who got same flares in. They were lighting them, there was a loud bang, and then you saw the line of Russian fans... just charging across at the England fans’.

‘I saw a flare going into the England section or mixed the section. But all England fans just ran across, and as soon as the fans started running everyone ran’.

BBC sports editor Dan Roan said England fans began jumping over the perimeter fence in panic.

‘Big questions for Uefa here,’ he tweeted. ‘Stampede appears to have been triggered by explosion. How did such a device make it inside and where was segregation?’

BDST: 1321 HRS, June 12, 2016
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