12 die in soccer stampede
TWELVE people were killed and hundreds injured at the weekend in a stampede at an El Salvador soccer stadium, police and emergency services said.
Authorities said initial reports pointed to a crush of fans who tried to enter Cuscatlan Stadium in the Central American country’s capital, San Salvador, to watch a local tournament match between teams Alianza and FAS.
The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.
“Salvadoran soccer is in mourning,” National Civil Police (PNC) director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters as he confirmed the death toll of 12.
In a statement yesterday, Fifa president Gianni Infantino offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, calling the stampede “tragic”.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives after the tragic incidents that have taken place in El Salvador,” Infantino said in a statement.
“Together with Fifa and the global football community, all our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected, as well as with the people of the Republic of El Salvador, the Concacaf Confederation, the Salvadoran Football Association, and the Primera Division de Futbol de El Salvador, at this difficult time,” Infantino said.
The venue has a capacity of almost 45 000 spectators, according to its website, though it remains unclear how many people were at the game at the weekend.
Among the survivors, Sandra Guzman, 40, left a capital hospital early yesterday with a bandage on her left knee, walking with difficulty alongside her friend, Javier Ramirez, 31.
Both said this was the “first and last time” they would experience such a misfortune because they would not return to the stadium.
“A large crowd of people fell on me. I couldn’t even breathe, they were choking me,” Guzman said.
When she was in front of a stadium gate, she said “people were pushing me to get in, they didn’t give me a chance to go back”. “When I came to see, I panicked, I had a lot of people on top of me.
“I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital.”
Health Minister Francisco Alabi said earlier that the country’s hospital network was “providing medical care to all patients”.
Carlos Fuentes, spokesperson for the emergency services group Comandos de Salvamento, said they were treating more than 500 people.
About 100 people in serious condition were taken to hospital, with some showing signs of asphyxia and other types of trauma, Fuentes said.
The stampede apparently started after a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together, he said.
At least two of the injured were in critical condition, according to police.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said the PNC and the Attorney-General’s Office would investigate the incident and those responsible would be punished.
“Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation,” Bukele said on Twitter.
He warned that “whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished”.
Arriaza of the PNC said the investigation would determine responsibility “either by action or omission of some of those in charge”.
Police also aim to learn “why the fans made the decision to break through one of the gates on the south side” of the stadium.
In the same area, there were issues with the ticket office’s QR readers, he said.
The Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) said in a statement it “deeply regrets” the events that occurred at the stadium and “expresses its solidarity” with the families of those “affected and killed”.
“Fesfut will immediately request a report of what happened and will communicate the relevant information as soon as possible,” it said.
Due to the incident, the federation said “all soccer is suspended at the national level” yesterday.
The history of soccer includes a number of deadly disasters at stadiums around the world.
In October, at least 125 people died after security personnel clashed with fans who poured on to the field following a game at Indonesia’s Kanjuruhan Stadium.
Tens of thousands of people scrambled to exit, trampling – and killing – others who fell, The Washington Post reported.
In May 1964, more than 300 people died when clashes broke out between police and attendees at an Olympic qualifying match between Argentina and Peru.
After a referee disallowed Peru’s tying goal in the final minutes, fans stormed Lima’s Estadio Nacional field, throwing objects at police.
Officers threw tear gas canisters into the crowd, and fans fled toward locked exits in the stadium’s tunnels. Many fatalities were a result of asphyxiation, and police shot an unknown number of people on the streets outside the stadium.