A stampede at a soccer stadium in El Salvador left 12 people dead and hundreds injured. The incident occurred when fans tried to enter the Cuscatlan Stadium in the capital San Salvador to watch a game between two local teams, Alianza and FAS. The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium. Authorities believe that a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together and start the stampede. More than 500 people were treated for various injuries, and 88 people were hospitalized. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele promised to investigate the incident, and those responsible would be punished.
Survivors described chaos at the stadium in the moments the stampede began. Sandra Guzman, who was leaving the Rosales National Hospital, said a huge crowd of people fell on her, and she couldn’t even breathe as they were choking her. The Salvadoran Football Federation expressed its solidarity with the families of those affected and killed and promised to investigate the incident immediately. As a result of the tragedy, all soccer was suspended at the national level on Sunday.
The chief of world soccer body FIFA offered his condolences after the “tragic” stampede. This incident comes seven months after 135 people were killed in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia.
