West Ham fan is run over by a street sweeper and left with ‘life-threatening injuries’ ahead of club’s European Cup tie in Cologne

A West Ham fan has been seriously injured after being hit by a sweeper truck before his club’s European Cup match this evening.

The 68-year-old was hit at a pedestrian traffic light near Cologne Cathedral.

Police said he suffered “life-threatening injuries” and was being held in hospital following the crash last night.

It was reported that he may have fallen under the brushes of the truck and suffered head injuries.

The machine then collided with a traffic light pole, injuring the driver.

Several West Ham supporters have flown to Cologne ahead of their Europa League quarter-final. The supporters in the image are not linked to the injured man

Hundreds of West Ham fans are not allowed to enter Leverkusen’s home section

Police said the West Ham fan’s condition had stabilized after he was treated by doctors at the hospital where he was staying today.

Today, investigators used chalk markers to mark the spot where the accident occurred last night at 9:20 p.m. and where his body lay under the vehicle.

A spokeswoman for the police in Cologne said: ‘According to witnesses, the 68-year-old crossed Trankgasse at the pedestrian traffic light, probably on red, around 9.20pm.’

“The cleaning vehicle coming from the direction of Comedy Street hit him.

‘Immediately after the collision, the 29-year-old driver suddenly sent his sweeper into a traffic light pole. He also suffered minor injuries.

‘Police have deployed a road traffic accident investigation team to secure evidence and have cordoned off a large part of the accident scene.’

It is believed that around 4,000 West Ham fans left for Germany, while only 1,750 had tickets for the quarter-final first leg with Bayer Leverkusen.

Hundreds of fans drank and sang into the early hours in bars around the cathedral, under police surveillance, but there were no reports of trouble.

Cologne police are also investigating the murder of a 50-year-old man who was stabbed to death last night.

The incident has not been linked to the fans.

It comes after several West Ham fans were banned from entering Bayer Leverkusen’s home stadium for their Europa League match to avoid potential problems with the crowd.

The measure follows an operation involving UEFA, Bayer Leverkusen and police to prevent a repeat of the violence that followed West Ham’s match against Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt in the same tournament two years ago.

Officials acted quickly to avoid potential problems with the crowd ahead of Thursday’s game

Supporters hung large banners around Cologne

There are also security concerns for any West Ham fan who manages to beat tight security and take their place among rival supporters after a German fan was repeatedly punched by Arsenal supporters at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The German had evaded the ban on Bayern Munich followers, which was imposed after fireworks were thrown on the pitch during a Champions League match with Italian Lazio.

Officials in Leverkusen took action after security concerns were raised after hundreds of West Ham fans secured tickets among Bayer Leverkusen supporters for tomorrow night’s European Cup quarter-final first leg.

An investigation weeded out several hundred West Ham supporters who had joined the club from Bayer Leverkusen and were then able to buy tickets among home supporters.

They were identified by British addresses or emails linked to internet service providers and banned.

Bayer would reportedly return ticket prices of €15, but it was unclear whether the €35 fans reserved for the mandatory ‘Bayer 04 Club’ membership would be returned.

High-flying West Ham were allocated 1,790 seats for their supporters at the 30,000-capacity Bay Arena for the first leg of their last eight matches.