NINE PEOPLE WERE killed yesterday in a stampede at an El Salvador stadium where soccer fans had gathered to watch a local tournament, police said.

“The number of deaths after the stampede at the Cuscatlan Stadium amounts to nine,” the National Civil Police posted on Twitter.

The security agency also noted that “several” injured people, including at least two in critical condition, were being taken to nearby hospitals.

The police said initial reports point to a crush of fans who tried to enter the stadium in the Central American country’s capital San Salvador to watch a match between teams Alianza and FAS.

El Salvador’s Interior Minister Juan Carlos Bidegain said the civil protection service’s first responders were on the scene and attending to people impacted by the incident.

Nuestros servicios de emergencia de la red hospitalaria ya están brindando atención médica a todos los pacientes que han sido trasladados del estadio.

Haremos lo humanamente posible para salvaguardar su vida. pic.twitter.com/ISKnxLWoI8

— Francisco Alabi 🇸🇻 (@FranAlabi) May 21, 2023

The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.

Health Minister Francisco Alabi said the country’s hospital network was “providing medical care to all patients” in the aftermath of the stampede.

The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people including more than 40 children died in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia.

© Agence France-Presse