The Greenpeace activist who almost crashed with his microlight in the stands Tuesday night before the start of the France-Germany match in Munich, narrowly avoided being shot by police snipers, the police revealed on Wednesday. German authorities.

The man, who wanted to take advantage of the holding of this summit football meeting to draw public attention to environmental protection, intended to "fly over" the stadium, said the environmental organization.

But things took a turn for the worse and he found himself propelled inside the compound.

"Snipers already had it in their sights," said Interior Minister for the region of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital, Joachim Herrmann, on Wednesday in a statement.

"If the police had determined that it was a terrorist attack, he would have paid for it with his life," he added.

The shooters did not finally give up pulling the trigger until they saw the Greenpeace logo on the para-sail, he explained.

Two injured

In the stadium, two men, a 36-year-old Frenchman and a 42-year-old Ukrainian, were injured during the passage of the machine, which had become uncontrollable, at the level of the stands.

They were taken care of by rescuers at the stadium and then transported to hospital, from which they have since emerged, according to the authorities.

The pilot of the ULM-type craft "should have flown over the stadium and dropped a latex balloon" with the message "Kick out Oil", according to Greenpeace, who apologized .

"Technical difficulties forced him to land in the stadium," according to a statement from Greenpeace.

"Irresponsible action"

The 38-year-old pilot residing in the German region of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany escaped the landing unscathed before being arrested.

He was released on Wednesday.

But he is being prosecuted for "dangerous injuries", "intrusion", "threat of air transport" and other "offenses under the aviation legislation, which strictly limits the possibilities of overflight, said the police.

UEFA condemned a "reckless act" and the German Federation (DFB) deemed the action "unacceptable".

Angela Merkela's spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, for his part denounced Wednesday "an irresponsible action" which "exposed people to great danger".

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