Nine die in stadium crush

At least nine people were killed and dozens more injured when stampeding football fans pushed through one of the access gates at a quarterfinal match in the Salvadoran league on Saturday.

The National Civil Police said in a preliminary report via Twitter that nine dead were confirmed at the match between clubs Alianza and FAS at Monumental stadium in Cuscatlan, which is about 25 miles north east of the capital San Salvador.

At least two of the injured transported to hospitals were in critical condition, police said.

Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the first aid group Rescue Commandos, also confirmed the casualties.

“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.

Play was suspended about 16 minutes into the match, when fans in the stands waving frantically began getting the attention of those on the field and carrying the injured out of a tunnel and down to the pitch.

Local television transmitted live images of the aftermath of the

stampede by Alianza fans. Dozens made it on to the pitch where they received medical treatment.

Fans who escaped the crush stood on the field furiously waving shirts attempting to get help for people lying on the grass barely moving.

Pedro Hernandez, president of El Salvador football’s first division, said the preliminary information he had was that the stampede occurred because fans managed to

push through a gate into the stadium.

“It was an avalanche of fans who overran the gate. Some were still under the metal in the tunnel.

“Others managed to make it to the stands and then to the field and were smothered,” an unidentified volunteer with the Rescue Commandos told journalists.

National Civil Police commissioner Mauricio Arriza Chicas, at the scene of the tragedy, said there

would be a criminal investigation in conjunction with the attorney general’s office.

“We are going to investigate from the ticket sales, the entries into the stadium, but especially the southern zone,” where, he said, the gate was pushed open.

The Salvadoran Soccer Federation said in a statement that it regretted what had happened and voiced support for the victims’ families.

It was an avalanche of fans who overran the gate

MATCH TRAGEDY: Fans take to the pitch at the stadium in Cuscatlan, El Salvador, following the fatal stampede.