El Salvador Soccer Stadium Stampede Leaves at Least 12 Dead

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Facts

  • At least a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede at Monumental Stadium [Estadio Cuscatlán] in El Salvador on Saturday, where soccer clubs Alianza and FAS were playing a national league quarterfinal game.1
  • National Civil Police Director Mauricio Arriaza detailed on Sunday that nine of the confirmed casualties died in the stadium, while the remaining fatal victims died in different hospitals.2
  • Some 90 people, including minors, were transferred to local hospitals to receive medical attention, with Health Minister Francisco Alabi adding that most of those hospitalized patients are in stable condition.3
  • While it is unclear what caused the rush, a live stream of the game posted on YouTube showed the chaos, when commentators reported commotion in the stands before fans stepped onto the field and the game was suspended.4
  • Pres. Nayib Bukele called the incident "unprecedented," and vowed to launch a comprehensive probe into why the stampede happened. He stated that he will not refrain from investigating teams, managers, stadium officials, the league, and the federation to hold the culprits accountable.5
  • Last year, a deadly stampede killed 135 spectators at a soccer stadium in Indonesia's East Java, as many were crushed while the crowd fled for exits as police fired tear gas into the crowd.6

Sources: 1FOX News, 2Al Jazeera, 3CNN, 4New York Times, 5BBC News, and 6Daily Mail.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by MARCA. The home team Alianza, fraudsters, and police are the main culprits for this tragic outcome in the latest game of El Salvador's fiercest soccer rivalry. Tickets were irresponsibly oversold and counterfeited, prompting reportedly 8K people to gather outside the venue and force their way in. Given the importance of this game, such problems should have been anticipated and the police presence should have been increased.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The Telegraph. This disaster stems directly from failures in the stadium's internet networks as a large number of supporters gathered outside the venue, which prompted some fans to be blocked due to a malfunctioning QR code system on one of the gates. It's the stadium management that is ultimately responsible for this tragedy.