Man dies after fans brawl at Vermont middle-school basketball game

A man died after a brawl broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in northern Vermont, local police have said.

Vermont state troopers were called to the Alburgh Community Education Center just before 7pm on Tuesday after a report of a large fight involving spectators during a seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball game between Alburgh and St Albans.

The fight ended before troopers arrived, and many of the participants had left. Russell Giroux, of Alburgh, 60, sought medical attention, police said. He was taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St Albans, where he was pronounced dead.

Alburgh is a town of about 2,100 in northwestern Vermont. It is surrounded on three sides by Lake Champlain. The northern part of the community forms part of the border with Canada.