Ticket Seller Held In Stampede

Police have arrested the man who was in charge of ticket booths and gate personnel at a soccer stadium where a stampede last month left 84 people dead.

It wasn’t clear whether Augusto Arroyo Hernandez had been charged with anything, but prosecutors said Monday they were seeking 10 other people.

Arroyo was responsible for ticket booths and gate personnel at the Mateo Flores National Stadium on Oct. 16 during a World Cup qualifier match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.

In addition to those killed, some 195 people were injured as soccer fans converged in a stadium tunnel. Exactly what prompted the stampede people remains unclear.

FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has said too many tickets were sold for the available space - by some accounts as many as 10,000 too many.

At least two people have been arrested for allegedly selling bogus tickets.

The proceeds from the ticket sales have been frozen, and several family members are suing stadium operators.

The president of the Autonomous Sports Confederation of Guatemala, Rolando Castro de Leon, has said the National Police must share in the blame for the stampede because it was in charge of security.