Seven football fans killed in crash while travelling to Europa League game

The club released a statement.

A minibus carrying 10 supporters of Greek club PAOK was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry in Romania as the fans travelled to France for a match against Lyon.

The incident happened at around 1pm on Tuesday.

Seven died in the incident, while three of the fans were left seriously injured.

Both PAOK and UEFA paid tribute to the fans on social media.

Meanwhile PAOK took the decision to close the away end for their match with Lyon taking place tonight in order to honour the victims.

In a post to X, the club said: "Feeling the sorrow and pain of the entire PAOK family following the tragic accident, and in line with the decision of the organized supporters to cancel all their trips and keep the away stand closed as a sign of mourning, in coordination with the French authorities and Lyon, the specific stand will not be opened.

"Those who have not yet started their journey to Lyon, as well as those who are already in France, are kindly requested to respect the decision of the PAOK family."

Meanwhile they also posted images of flowers being laid as well as the players and staff observing a moment's silence during a training session.

The club’s president Ivan Savvidis called it ‘an unspeakable tragedy’ as they sent representatives to Romania to provide support to the injured.

He added: "I am devastated by the unjust loss of young people, fans of our beloved team, who travelled to stand by our PAOK. I mourn with the families and millions of our compatriots. May God rest their souls.

"These children, the children of PAOK, are our children, they are members of a big family. And we do everything for our family and we don’t leave anyone alone.

"My thoughts are with their loved ones. I pray that everything goes well for those who were injured and are fighting a critical battle in these hours."

Meanwhile, UEFA also paid their respects on social media, writing: "Standing with the PAOK FC family in times of grief. Sincere condolences to everyone affected by this tragic accident."

The crash occurred in western Romania on the E70 highway between the towns of Caransebes and Lugojel.

Romanian authorities are investigating the incident.