Football fans die in stadium stampede crush
Failed Wi-fi suspected as initial death toll is set at 12 with more than 500 hurt, about 100 seriously
AT LEAST a dozen football fans were crushed to death in a stampede thought to have been triggered by failing stadium Wi-fi.
Authorities in El Salvador are investigating a theory that fans were blocked from entering the arena by a malfunctioning QR code system on one gates.
The blockage may have been caused by the internet networks crashing because of the large numbers who had gathered, some without tickets, The New York Times reported.
Hundreds of people were subsequently stuck at the southern gate to the Cuscatlán Stadium in San Salvador, where Alianza Fútbol Club and Club Deportivo FAS were playing the second leg of a cup quarter-final.
Police said fans at the southern gate forced their way into the stadium, triggering a stampede that led to some suffocating to death and left scores in hospital with serious injuries.
The match was suspended as emergency services evacuated the stadium where hundreds of police officers and soldiers had gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.
“Salvadoran soccer is in mourning,” National Civil Police (PNC) director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters as he confirmed a death toll of 12.
Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, yesterday offered condolences to the families and friends of the victims, calling the stampede “tragic”.
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele said the PNC and the attorney general’s office would investigate and those responsible would be punished.
“Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation,” Mr Bukele said on Twitter. He warned that “whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished.”
Survivor Sandra Guzman, 40, who left hospital early yesterday with a bandage on her left knee, walked with difficulty with 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. Ms Guzman said: “A large crowd of people fell on me. I couldn’t even breathe, they were choking me. People were pushing me to get in, they didn’t give me a chance to go back. I panicked, I had a lot of people on top of me. I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital.”
Francisco Alabi, the health minister, said earlier that the country’s hospital network was “providing medical care to all patients”.
Carlos Fuentes, a spokesman 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, Mr Fuentes said.
The stampede apparently started after a stadium gate fell, he said.
At least two of the injured were in critical condition, according to police.
Mr Arriaza 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 was suspended at the national level yesterday.
The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people, including more than 40 children, were killed in a stampede after a football match in Malang, Indonesia.