Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREESee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER and NATALIE PENZA Published: 00:03 BST, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 01:06 BST, 6 July 2026
A Moroccan football fan has died after the flag she wore around her neck while celebrating the country's 3-0 win over Canada became tangled in her motorbike's rear wheel.The 39-year-old was riding on the backseat through the Spanish city of Algeciras with her husband at around 11pm yesterday when the flag was pulled into the wheel, dragging her from the bike and causing a serious neck injury.Police arriving at the scene found her in cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR before paramedics took over minutes later.Sadly, she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Europa Punta Hospital in the province of Cádiz. The accident occurred just hours after Morocco became the first team to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals.Police who were investigating the accident in the San Garcia neighbourhood today confirmed that her husband was not over the drink-drive limit.Algeciras mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce said he was 'deeply dismayed' by the tragedy and that officials were supporting the woman's family. He said: 'We stand with them in their grief.' A Moroccan football fan died after the flag she wore around her neck became tangled in her motorbike's rear wheel Algeciras is home to one of Spain's largest Moroccan communities, with around 10,000 of its 128,000 residents originally from the north African nation.The woman's death echoes a similar accident that took place in Argentina in December 2022.Argentinian football fan, Oscar Maciel, was choked to death after a flag draped around his shoulders got caught in his motorbike's wheel. The 22-year-old crashed and choked to death while celebrating Argentina's World Cup final win over France in Bahía Blanca, a province of Buenos Aires.A police source told a local newspaper at the time of the accident: 'Various witnesses saw him fall to the ground and realised he had the flag around his neck.'The investigation is ongoing but the initial hypothesis is that he died from asphyxiation.'
