The incident occurred on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 around 7:15 PM in the run-up to the Champions League match between Club Brugge and FC Barcelona. The visiting fans were supposed to be taken to the Jan Breydel Stadium by shuttle buses, but the bus suddenly caught fire due to pyrotechnic material. No one was injured.
Bengal fire
An FC Barcelona supporter was arrested as a suspect at the scene. After questioning, the public prosecutor’s office decided to immediately summon the 25-year-old Spaniard for accidental arson. According to the statements of a police officer, AC allegedly lit the Bengali fire. “But I never pointed him out, that’s what my colleagues from the Bruges police zone made of it,” the civil party stated at the hearing. The police officer was standing barely half a meter from the incident, albeit next to the bus. “The boy picked up the torch and immediately put it down again. Then he gave a high five to the person who probably lit the torch.”
Accidental arson
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the Catalan was indeed guilty of unintentional arson due to his carelessness. “He picks up the Bengal fire, waves it and puts it back on the ground. Only then does the fire start,” it said. The prosecutor did take the defendant’s clean criminal record into account. She therefore requested a three-month suspended prison sentence and a fine.
Reflex
The defense explained that another supporter lit the Bengal fire and threw it into the rotating center section of the bus. As a result, the rubber would have already caught fire at that moment. According to master Simon Bekaert, his client must be acquitted. “In response to that dangerous situation, he reflexively picked up that torch and put it away again.”
The judge will make a ruling on April 2. In the meantime, the defense also tried to identify the real perpetrator through a complaint with civil action. The council chamber will consider that file on March 11.
