David Apap is counting himself lucky after he and his girlfriend escaped the Turin stampede last night with only light cuts and bruises.
“At one point I fell to the ground I got stepped on and my girlfriend started shouting because she saw people on top of me,” Mr Apap said.
About 1,000 people were injured in the Italian city of Turin after what is believed to be a firecracker provoked a stampede on Saturday night during the Champions League final.
Thousands of football fans were watching a live relay of Juventus' Champions League final against Real Madrid in Cardiff when a bang was heard and rumours of an explosion spread.
At least two people, including a seven-year-old child, were seriously hurt, and several hundred are reported to have suffered minor injuries.
Mr Apap, a Juventus fan who flew to Turin to watch the match in the Piazza San Carlo, said with a chuckle: “Juventus got a thrashing, and I guess I kind of did too”.
He said he hadn’t heard any bang or loud noise which could have been mistaken for a bomb.
Instead, sometime after the third goal, the crowd suddenly moved all at once, he said.
I saw people on the ground getting hurt; there was glass and people were cut
“The worst part of it all is the fear that something really serious might be about to happen. I saw people on the ground getting hurt; there was glass and people were cut. It’s not a good experience,” he said.
Bags, shoes, and load of glass bottles were left scattered on the ground as people ran screaming out of the square.
A seven-year-old boy is reported to be in critical condition in hospital with head and chest injuries.
Some of the injuries occurred when a barrier around the entrance to an underground car park gave way under the pressure of stampeding football fans.
For some Juventus fans, the incident brought back traumatic memories of the 1985 Heysel stadium disaster, where 39 people, most of them Italians fans, were killed when a wall collapsed on them before the European Cup final against Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Mr Apap now plans on spending the rest of his Italian break to relax.