RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- A 20-year-old soccer fan was hacked to death with a sickle and dozens were arrested after a brutal clash between rival soccer gangs, police said Monday.
Rafick da Silva Cancio was lashed three times with a sickle when a brawl erupted Sunday during a chance meeting of Flamengo and Botafogo fans. Cancio, a fan of Botafogo, died before police arrived to stop the melee.
"It was inhuman," officer Delis Prates said in a televised interview.
The fans, in two bus convoys, arrived late for the game and were turned away from the stadium in Volta Redonda, 70 miles southwest of Rio, media reported. They were returning to Rio when a Botafogo bus stopped with a flat tire and the Flamengo group pulled up.
The buses emptied and the fans brawled with sticks and stones, police said. A Flamengo fan reportedly found a sickle left near the roadside by a fruit vendor and attacked Cancio.
Police arrested about 160 fans -- mostly from the Flamengo Young Fans group -- although most were later released.
Flamengo, a five-time national champion, is Brazil's most popular club but is struggling this season to avoid relegation. The club won 3-1 and climbed to 17th place in the 22-club first division, while Botafogo remained in 11th.
