West Ham supporter has 'life-threatening injuries' after being hit by road sweeper in Germany

A West HamUnited supporter has been left with 'life-threatening injuries' following a collision with a road sweeper ahead of the Hammers' European clash against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday night.

The 68-year old-fan was struck at a traffic light near Cologne's cathedral, reportedly falling under the sweeper's brushes and sustaining serious head injuries. He was rushed to hospital after the incident and is now in a stable condition.

German police released a statement saying: «According to witnesses, the 68-year-old crossed Trankgasse at the pedestrian traffic light at around 9:20 p.m, presumably on red. The cleaning vehicle coming from the direction of Comedy Street hit him.»

The driver of the sweeper, aged 29, also suffered minor injuries when he steered his vehicle into a traffic light pole immediately after the collision. A traffic accident investigation team was deployed by the police to gather evidence and a large area around the accident site was cordoned off.

Thousands of West Ham fans have travelled to Germany for their team's Europa League match against Bundesliga title favourites Bayer Leverkusen. Many have made the journey to Cologne — just 18km south — in anticipation of Thursday's quarter-final first leg, reports the Mirror.

Despite only 1,790 tickets being allocated for visiting supporters, it's estimated that around 4,000 fans have made the trip. Leverkusen have already imposed a ban on Hammers fans entering the home end.

It is an attempt to stamp out any potential violence… West Ham fans were involved in clashes with Eintracht Frankfurt supporters two years ago. Ahead of his team's showdown with Leverkusen, Hammers boss David Moyes said: «I see it as a great opportunity, I really do.

»We've had a pretty good