Huge European derby stopped after stand catches fire as firefighters rush to scene

Wait 5 sec.

The derby between Red Star and Partizan Belgrade had to be suspended after a fire broke out in one of the stands.Firefighters were called to attend the scene once former West Ham United, Stoke City and Inter Milan star Marko Arnautovic made it 2-0 to to Serbian giants Red Star.The fire quickly got out of controlGettyThe fans in the stand where it happened moved away, but they still remained near the flames.But it got to the point where the referee had no choice but to stop proceedings.Firefighters then arrived and the blaze was quickly brought under control.The game incredibly got going again in the 64th minute with the fire put out.And it was the perfect game for the home side because they claimed a 3-0 win in the end.The cause of the fire was a section of the Partizan ultras reacting to the Arnautovic goal.The Partizan fans were furious with what they were seeing so decided to set a part of the stand on fireGettyThe authorities swiftly dealt with the situationGettyCarnageIn terms of the title race, this was a huge match with just one point separating the two going into it.Both teams had 17 wins, with Red Star top.And by the end of the contest, they were four points clear, with 17-year-old Vasilije Kostov scoring first.Arnautovic doubled the lead before the fire broke out.And once they returned Aleksandar Katai added a third on 77 minutes.There are 13 games left in the Serbian SuperLiga, with both sides still fighting for the title, but that is a huge win for Red Star.Riot police were in attendance at the scene as well as firefightersGettyArnautovic scored in the game that certainly had health and safety problemsAFPAfter the game, Red Star centre-back Milos Veljkovic said: “I think we played a mature game. In the first half, they did a good job of pressing, but we scored the first goal at the right moment and that meant a lot to us.“We played even better in the second half and deserved to win. I thank the fans for coming. It was one of the best games I’ve ever played, really thanks for everything.”Fellow defender Strahinja Erakovic added: “An important victory. We deserved to win. We are preparing for Thursday, now every next game is the most important for us. I also thank the fans.“I’m not the most happy with how I played today. It doesn’t matter that we won 3-0. “Not to be rude, but I think that’s a real strength of us and them right now. “We could have played better in the first half and the result could have been better. We [still] showed that we are five times better team than them.”