At least 12 people died Saturday in a stampede by soccer fans at the Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador, according to a provisional police report.
The tragedy occurred when fans “tried to enter” the stadium before a first division match between local team Alianza and CD FAS in the capital of this Central American state.
“Salvadorian football is in mourning,” the director of the National Civil Police (PNC), Mauricio Arriaza, lamented to the press. He announced a provisional death toll of “twelve dead, nine in the stadium and three others […] in different hospitals.
The President of the International Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino presented Sunday, in a press release, “his most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic incidents in El Salvador”.
This tragedy comes six months after the tragedy at the Malang stadium, on the island of Java in Indonesia, which claimed the lives of 135 people in a giant stampede caused by tear gas fire from the police. It is one of the worst disasters in the history of sport.
When the incident occurred in the San Salvador stadium, the game was interrupted and hundreds of law enforcement officers and soldiers coordinated the evacuation of spectators.
The Minister of Health, Francisco Alabi, assured that “all the patients” transferred were taken care of by the hospital emergency services.
According to a spokesman for relief, Carlos Fuentes, more than 500 people had to be taken care of inside the enclosure of some 35,000 places, one of the largest in Central America. The 100 most affected people were taken to health facilities, he said, adding that some showed symptoms of asphyxiation and other “types of trauma”.
Players from both teams joined in the rescue operations for the injured inside the stadium.
“I couldn’t breathe”
Among the stampede survivors, Sandra Guzmán, 40, was admitted to the Rosales National Hospital in the capital. “I couldn’t even breathe, they were suffocating me,” she told AFP early Sunday morning as she left hospital.
In front of the gate, “people pushed me to enter [dans le stade], they didn’t give me the chance to back down, I had a seizure, there were a lot of people on top of me. I passed out and when I woke up I was in the hospital,” she explained.
The Head of State, Nayib Bukele, announced that an investigation had been opened. “Everyone will be affected: teams, directions, state, ticket office, league, federation, etc. “, he wrote on Twitter. “Whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished,” he warned.
The head of the PNC for his part promised a “thorough investigation in order to be able to determine the responsibility, by action or omission, of the persons concerned”.
In a statement, the Salvadoran Football Federation “deeply regretted” the tragedy at the Cuscatlan stadium.
“The FESFUT will immediately request a report on what happened and will communicate the relevant information as soon as possible,” added the institution.
The federation also decreed “the suspension of football activities at the national level” for this Sunday.
She also announced a meeting of the Sports Enclosures Security Commission.