AT least 12 are dead and 100 have been left in a serious condition after a stampede at an El Salvador football stadium last night.
Authorities say the tragedy occurred after a crush of fans tried to enter Cuscatlan Stadium in the capital of San Salvador to watch a quarterfinal match between the Alianza and FAS clubs.
Play was suspended about 16 minutes into the match after fans in the stands waving frantically.
They managed to get the attention of those on the field and carried the injured out of a tunnel and down to the pitch.
Emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium with a capacity of 44,000 fans, while hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.
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"Preliminarily, we have a negative result of 12 victims, nine who are here in the stadium and three more that we have been informed are in different hospital centres," National Civil Police director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters.
"Salvadoran soccer is in mourning," Arriaza said.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, calling the stampede "tragic."
"I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives after the tragic incidents that have taken place in El Salvador".
Among the survivors, Sandra Guzman, 40, left a capital hospital early this morning bandaged up and walking with difficulty with her friend, Javier Ramirez, 31.
Both said this was the "first and last time" they would experience such a misfortune because they would not return to the stadium.
"A large crowd of people fell on me. I couldn't even breathe, they were choking me," Guzman said.
When she was in front of a stadium gate, she explained: "people were pushing me to get in, they didn't give me a chance to go back. When I came to see, I panicked, I had a lot of people on top of me.
"I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital."
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele described the event as "unprecedented" and that an "exhaustive investigation" would be launched.
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"Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation," Bukele wrote on Twitter.
He warned that "whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished."
Health Minister Francisco Alabi said the country's hospital network was "providing medical care to all patients."
Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the emergency services group Comandos de Salvamento, said they were treating more than 500 people.
About 100 people in serious condition were taken to hospital, with some showing signs of asphyxia and other types of trauma, Fuentes said.
He alleged that the stampede started after a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together.
At least two of the injured were in critical condition, according to police.
"It was an avalanche of fans who overran the gate," a volunteer with the Rescue Commandos first aid group said.
"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."
The Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) said in a statement it "deeply regrets" the events that occurred at the stadium and "expresses its solidarity" with the families of those "affected and killed."
The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people, including more than 40 children, were killed in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia.
Police had tried to fend off fans with tear gas and many panic-stricken victims were crushed or suffocated while trying to use closed or narrow exit doors.
An Indonesian police officer and two match officials were jailed for 12-18 months over the disaster.
