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At least nine dead in stampede at soccer stadium in El Salvador
At least nine people are dead and dozens more injured after stampeding soccer fans in El Salvador pushed through one of the access gates at a quarter-final match in the Salvadoran league.
The National Civil Police said in a preliminary report via Twitter that nine dead were confirmed at the Saturday match between clubs Alianza and FAS at Monumental stadium in Cuscatlan, which is about 41 kilometres north-east of the capital.
At least two of the injured transported to hospitals were in critical condition, police said.
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Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the first aid group Rescue Commandos, also confirmed the deaths.
"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," 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 field.
Local television transmitted live images of the aftermath of the stampede.
Dozens made it onto the field where they received medical treatment. Fans who escaped the crush stood on the field furiously waving shirts attempting to revive people lying on the grass barely moving.
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Pedro Hernández, president of El Salvador soccer'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.
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"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 Football Federation said in a statement that it regretted what had happened and voiced support for the victims' families.
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