At least 12 dead and dozens injured left a stampede of fans on Saturday during the second leg of the quarterfinals between Alianza and FAS in the first division of Salvadoran soccer.
“We are expediting the entry and exit of ambulances to the Cuscatlán Stadium (in the Salvadoran capital). We ask the population to step aside and allow the ambulances to pass,” the National Civil Police (PNC) exhorted in a tweet.
The general director of the PNC, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, confirmed that the avalanche left 12 victims, nine in the stadium and three more than in the hospital centers, and affirmed that an investigation would be launched “down to the last details.”
“We are going to investigate from ticket sales, income to the stadium, but especially from the south zone; where and why only one gate was opened, we are going to investigate those criminal responsibilities, ”he promised before the journalists.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also said on Twitter that an exhaustive investigation will be carried out and that what happened at the Cuscatlán stadium will not go unpunished.
“The PNC and the FGR will carry out an exhaustive investigation of the events that occurred at the Cuscatlán Stadium. Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, ticket office, league, federation, etc. Whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished.”
For his part, the Minister of the Interior and president of the National Civil Protection Commission, Juan Carlos Bidegain, said at a press conference that “fans have shown that they were sold false tickets and allowed entry.”
“Others talk about overselling on the black market. However it happened, President Bukele has ordered an exhaustive investigation so that nothing goes unpunished.”
The Salvadoran Football Federation (FESFUT) expressed in a statement that it regretted what happened and that it stands in solidarity with the families of the deceased. The match was suspended due to the incident 16 minutes into the first half and with the score 0-0. It has not been reported when it will be resumed.
The governing body of Salvadoran soccer also reported that due to the tragedy, it was suspending matches in all categories of professional soccer scheduled for this Sunday, May 21.
Local television broadcast live images of the stampede of fans of the “albos” of Alianza who demolished the gate of the general sector and dozens reached the field of play where they were attended by the relief forces.
“It was an avalanche of fans who broke down the gate, some were left under the bars in the tunnel, others managed to get to the stands and then to the pitch and were suffocating,” one of the volunteers from the Rescue Commandos told reporters. .
“This is a dark night, we can confirm nine deaths, seven men and two women, and we treated more than 500 people and transferred more than 100 to hospitals, some of them were serious,” said the spokesman for the Rescue Commands, Carlos Sources.
The president of the First Soccer Division of El Salvador, Pedro Hernández, said that the information they have received is that “apparently it was through a gate that they knocked him down and where the stampeding people hit the others.”
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