She grows up tragedy in El Salvador. According to the latest information, at least 12 people died and more than 100 were injured when they were trampled trying to enter the Cuscatlán stadium in the capital San Salvador during the second leg of the quarter finals (Clausura 2023). between Alianza and FAS (Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos), the government of the Central American country said on Twitter.

The game was abandoned in the stadium with a capacity of more than 44,000 fans.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino expressed, in his statement, “the most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic events that occurred in El Salvador.”

According to the first information – as reported by the Spanish newspaper Marca – numerous Alianza fans tried to enter the stadium without a ticket, and some of them with fake tickets, broke an access door to the stadium, which caused a riot.

“There were only two open doors in the whole stadium. The people who were outside wanted to force their way in, they all fell on top of us,” said one fan in a testimony collected by La Prensa Gráfica.

“Before 7pm, the police had closed the doors. They wouldn’t let us in and there were a large number of fans who had paid for tickets. They were children, old people. We literally had to drop the gate to breathe because there were so many people and we were suffocating,” explained one of the affected fans.

Among the soccer survivors, Santa Guzman, 40, was admitted to Rosales National Hospital in the capital. “I couldn’t even breathe, they were suffocating me,” he told the French news agency (AFP) early this (21/5) morning as he left the hospital.

In front of the gate, “people were pushing me to enter the field, they didn’t give me the chance to back down, I had a seizure, there were a lot of people on top of me. I passed out and when I woke up, I was in the hospital,” he explained.

El Salvador’s national police ordered the doors closed and, according to several fans, even fired tear gas at fans trying to enter the stadium. According to the police version, tear gas was never used.

“Salvadoran football is in mourning,” national police (PNC) director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters. He announced a provisional count of “twelve dead, nine on the field and three others in different hospitals”, while assuring that the Salvadoran police suggested to the sports authorities to open a third gate, but that the opening was not allowed: “We are investigating why only one gate was opened . Those criminal responsibilities are what we are going to investigate,” he said.

More than 500 people had to be treated inside the stadium’s pitch, which is one of the largest in Central America. “The 100 people most affected were taken to health facilities, with some of them suffering from suffocation and other injuries.”

Players from both teams participated in the rescue operations of the injured inside the stadium.

“The Salvadoran Football Federation deeply regrets the events that occurred at the Cuscaltan Stadium,” the federation wrote on Twitter. “It also expresses solidarity with the relatives of those affected and the dead in this incident.”

The tweet added that the federation would immediately request an investigation into the incident.

Despite what was happening off the pitch, the match between Alianza and FAS got off to a relatively normal start but had to be abandoned in the 20th minute when fans stormed the pitch looking for space to escape the chaos.

The president of El Salvador, Naguib Buquele, has already announced a thorough investigation into the tragedy. “Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, publishers, league, federation, etc. Whoever is guilty will not go unpunished,” he said on social networks.

The federation also decided “to suspend football activities at national level” for this Sunday.