Crush At Soccer Game Kills 83 Hundreds More Injured Prior To World Cup Qualifier
Fans trying to squeeze into a soccer stadium stampeded at a World Cup qualifying match Wednesday night. Guatemala’s top prosecutor said at least 83 people were trampled or suffocated to death, and hospitals said hundreds were injured.
Bodies of men, women and children were lined up on the ground next to the track at Mateo Flores National Stadium after the match was suspended. Firefighters and police cut through a chain link fence to lower the victims from the grandstands.
The tragedy occurred about an hour before a qualifying match between the Guatemalan and Costa Rican national teams. More than 45,000 people, including the presidents of the two countries, packed the stands beyond capacity.
Too many tickets apparently were sold for the match.
Fans crammed into every corner of the stadium, dressed in blue and white, Guatemala’s national colors. They sat dangerously on the highest walls, next to field lights and on top of the roof of the press boxes as well as in the stairway accesses. All gates were practically blocked.
Fans who were not allowed in tried to pass through a narrow concrete causeway about 15 yards long into the stadium, firefighters said.
Security forces could not stop them and the crowd surged through the gate, trampling and suffocating people inside.
Among the dead that reporters could see was a woman in an Indian dress, more than 15 pre-teen children and adult men who wore white shirts emblazoned with the word “Guatemala.” Most of the bodies had bruises on their heads, bloodied ears and mouths or broken arms and legs. Many limbs were twisted grotesquely.
Some bodies had clothes torn off them, and firefighters covered them with coats and blankets amid the glare of the stadium lights.
“It’s terrible! It’s terrible!” said Marlon Ivan Leon, a defender for the Guatemalan team who was standing near the victims and crying.
Costa Rican soccer players hugged in a tight circle on the field.
“What does soccer matter now?” said Guatemala’s head coach, Horacio Cordero.
Hospitals said hundreds of people were treated for fractures, suffocation or shock. Victor Hugo Perez, the nation’s top prosecutor, said at least 83 had died.
President Alvaro Arzu called the accident “one of the largest tragedies in our country” and declared three days of national mourning.
“How can they play football after so many people died!” shouted a woman as shocked fans filed out of the stadium. Arzu canceled the match.
The United States is scheduled to play its final qualifying game of the North and Central American and Caribbean regional semifinals in the stadium on Dec. 21. The Americans open qualifying in Washington on Nov. 3 and play road games at Trinidad on Nov. 24 and at Costa Rica on Dec. 1.
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