Moroccan football fan, 39, dies after flag she was wearing around her neck while celebrating win 'got caught in motorbike wheel'

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER and NATALIE PENZA Published: 00:03, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 00:05, 6 July 2026 A Moroccan football fan has died after the flag she wore around her neck while celebrating the country's 3-0 win over Canada became tangled in her motorbike's rear wheel. The 39-year-old was riding through the Spanish city of Algeciras with her husband at around 11pm yesterday when the flag was pulled into the wheel, dragging her from the bike and causing a serious neck injury. Police arriving at the scene found her in cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR before paramedics took over minutes later. Sadly, she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Europa Punta Hospital in the province of Cádiz.  The accident occurred just hours after Morocco became the first team to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals. Police who were investigating the accident in the San Garcia neighbourhood in Algeciras today confirmed that her husband passed a drink-drive test. Algeciras mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce said he was 'deeply dismayed' by the tragedy and that officials were supporting the woman's family.  He said: 'We stand with them in their grief.' A Moroccan football fan died after the flag she wore around her neck became tangled in her motorbike's rear wheel  Algeciras is home to one of Spain's largest Moroccan communities, with around 10,000 of its 128,000 residents originally from north African nation. The woman's death echoes a similar accident that took place in Argentina in December 2022. Argentinian football fan, Oscar Maciel, was choked to death after a flag draped around his shoulders got caught in his motorbike's wheel.  The 22-year-old crashed and choked to death while celebrating Argentina's World Cup final win over France in Bahía Blanca, a province of Buenos Aires. A police source told a local newspaper at the time of the accident: 'Various witnesses saw him fall to the ground and realised he had the flag around his neck. 'The investigation is ongoing but the initial hypothesis is that he died from asphyxiation.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.