The World Cup claimed its first two fatalities this week, when a French actor was stabbed to death by an apparently deranged English football fan and a Scotsman died of Legionnaires' Disease contracted while attending matches in France.
Mr Paul Birch (42), an Englishman, confessed to murdering Mr Eric Frachet (33) on the GrenobleLyon train on June 30th. He was charged yesterday in the town of Bourgoin-Jallieu, near the SaintAndre-le-Gaz train station where the murder occurred.
When gendarmes asked Mr Birch why he had stabbed Mr Frachet in the stomach, the Englishman said he had mistaken him for an Argentine fan, that Mr Frachet smiled at him and he believed he was mocking him. The murder occurred at 7 p.m., as the train pulled into the station. The England-Argentina match, which England lost, began two hours later.
Mr Birch escaped from the train station but was arrested the following night after he started a fight with a porter in a Grenoble hotel.
Mr Xavier Bonpain, the prosecutor supervising the investigation, said Mr Birch ran a construction company in London. "He is blond, of average build. You wouldn't notice him," he said. "He talks normally, but we believe he may be mentally ill. The doctors and psychiatrists will examine him later to determine his ability to stand trial.
"He thought the victim was an Argentine supporter," Mr Bon pain continued. "He admits killing him, and now he says he is very sorry. It was an isolated act. He was travelling alone. He may have been drinking. He wanted to go to Saint-Etienne to see the match there. He didn't have a ticket but he hoped to find one."
In separate developments, four Scottish football fans who travelled to France for the World Cup contracted Legionnaires' Disease, a respiratory ailment that is fatal in 40 per cent of cases. One of the four, Mr Harry Cook (32), a welder born in Glasgow but who lived in Blackpool, Lancashire, died in the intensive care unit of Blackpool's Victoria Hospital a week after returning from France.
Mr Cook had attended the opening World Cup match between Scotland and Brazil on June 10th, as well as Scotland's matches against Norway and Morocco.
The British embassy in Paris confirmed that two other Britons stricken with the disease have returned home. One, a man in his 50s, left hospital in West Lothian after treatment. The fourth Legionnaires' victim, a 60-year-old Scotsman, is a patient at the Bellevue Hospital in Saint-Etienne. His doctor, Prof Jean-Claude Bertrand, said: "His case was very serious. He was admitted on June 21st, and has improved considerably. We are optimistic he will live now. It is a mystery how he caught it."
Dr Bertrand suggested the disease may have travelled from Scotland. About 150 people catch Legionnaires' Disease in Britain each year.
The disease was discovered in the US in 1976. Its main symptom is great difficulty in breathing, but victims often experience digestive problems as well. Smokers, heavy drinkers and people with respiratory problems are most susceptible to infection, and victims are placed immediately on artificial respirators.
The bacteria which transmit the rare disease are carried through the air, usually conveyed through air conditioning or ventilation systems.
The British Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and the French National Public Health Network are working together to investigate the four Scottish cases, but have so far found no personal links between them.
All of the men travelled through Paris, but did not stay in the same hotels. All attended the Scotland-Brazil match which opened the World Cup on June 10th.