Stampede at football stadium leaves nine dead and 500 injured in horrific crush
A football stadium stampede left at least 12 people dead and around 500 injured in the horrific crush.
The shocking incident took place at a quarter-final clash between Alianza and FAS at the Monumental stadium in Cuscatlan, El Salvador on May 20.
Local reports suggest hundreds of people tried to rush into one of the sectors of the stadium, leading to the tragedy.
Videos capture the horror moment the severity of the crush begins to dawn on fans as some fight to free others and pull them to safety, beyond the metal barriers within a tunnel.
Others show emergency services rushing by outside the stadium, cutting through crowds of dazed and disorientated footy fans.
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An injured fan is carried onto the pitch, to safety, following the crush (AFP via Getty Images)The National Civil Police confirmed chilling details of the tragedy, including that at least two of the injured people were in a critical condition as they were rushing to hospital.
Meanwhile the director of civil police was later reported as saying that there were “about 100 people in a serious condition”.
Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the first aid group Rescue Commandos, also confirmed the deaths before they were later increased to 12 people.
He said: "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.”
Hundreds of fans spilled onto the pitch in the aftermath (Milton Flores/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The game only lasted 16 minutes before fans began desperately trying to get the attention of players, and started carrying the injured down a tunnel or out onto the pitch.
Local television showed the aftermath of the stampede by Alianza fans.
Early reports claim that the crush occurred because the fans managed to force their way through a gate and into the stadium.
Pedro Hernandez, president of El Salvador soccer's first division, said the preliminary information indicated that this was the case.
Injured fans were carried out onto the pitch (AP)An unidentified volunteer with the Rescue Commandos first aid group told journalists: "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."
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.
An investigation will be opened into the horrific crush that claimed at least 12 lives (AFP via Getty Images)The Salvadoran Soccer Federation said in a statement that it regretted what had happened and voiced support for the victims' families.
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