[ad_1] At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured during a stampede at a football match in El Salvador.Officials said more than 500 peop
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At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured during a stampede at a football match in El Salvador.
Officials said more than 500 people were treated, while over 100 were taken to hospital after the crush at the Monumental Stadium in Cuscatlan, around 250km northeast of capital San Salvador.
The tragedy took place during a quarter-final match in the Salvadoran league between teams Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS – two of the most popular teams in the Central American country.
“The first information points to a stampede of fans who tried to enter to watch the match,” the National Civil Police (PNC) said.
Around 16 minutes into the game, play was suspended when the stampede began in the 44,000-seat stadium.
Local television broadcast live images of fans carrying injured people out of the tunnel and on to the pitch amid the chaos.
FAS goalkeeper Gerson Lopez was seen carrying one of the injured fans across the pitch as many of the spectators who had avoided the crush waved shirts over the injured in an attempt to revive them.
Initial reports said nine people had been killed, with the number rising a couple of hours after the crush occurred.
Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for first aid group Rescue Commandos, confirmed nine deaths soon after the stampede, ABC reported.
“We can confirm nine dead – seven men and two women – and we attended to more than 500 people, and more than 100 were transported to hospitals. Some of them were serious,” Mr Fuentes said.
Salvadoran Health Minister Francisco Alabi also said on Twitter that emergency teams had been sent to the stadium and the injured were being transferred to local hospitals.
The Salvadoran Football Federation expressed its “deep regrets” over the tragedy, saying it would request an immediate investigation.
“The Salvadoran Football Federation deeply regrets the events that occurred at the Cuscatlan Stadium,” the organisation wrote on its Twitter account. “It also expresses solidarity with the relatives of those affected and deceased in this incident.”
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele echoed the need for an “exhaustive investigation” into the incident, announcing it would be carried out by the national police and the Attorney-General’s office.
“Everyone will be investigated – teams, managers, stadium, ticket office, league, federation, etc. Whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished,” Mr Bukele tweeted.
Originally published as A stampede at a football match in El Salvador leaves 12 dead
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