At least 12 dead in stampede at football stadium in El Salvador

Football fans are assisted by other fans at the field of the Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador. Photo / AP

At least 12 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 confirmed via Twitter that people had died at the match between clubs Alianza and FAS at Monumental stadium in Cuscatlan, which is about 41km northeast of the capital.

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, earlier confirmed nine 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 pitch.

Estamos agilizando la entrada y salida de ambulancias al Estadio Cuscatlán.

Pedimos a la población apartarse y permitir el paso de las ambulancias. pic.twitter.com/gbmimFZuD5

— PNC El Salvador (@PNCSV) May 21, 2023

Local television transmitted live images of the aftermath of the stampede by Alianza fans. 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.

Bodies are covered with a blanket at the field of Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador. Photo / AP

Fans take to the field of Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador where at least nine people were killed and dozens more injured. Photo / AP

Pedro Hernández, 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 first aid group 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.

A fan comforts another lying at the field of Cuscatlan stadium. Photo / AP

“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.