The Public Prosecutor’s Office in El Salvador issued an arrest warrant for five people suspected of being responsible for a stampede at Cuscatlan stadium in the country’s capital that killed 12 people during the second leg match between Alianza and Club Deportivo in the quarter-finals of the knockout rounds in the local league earlier this week.
The arrest warrant included three officials of the Alianza team, who are the club president, security director, financial director, as well as the general manager of the El Salvadoran stadiums authority, and the person responsible for the keys to the stadium gates, as they will be tried on charges of premeditated murder, endangering the lives of others and damaging property.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Twitter on Thursday: “Neglect in organization and greed, through over-selling (tickets), resulted in a human stampede that caused loss of life and injury and endangered the safety of those present.” They will appear in court in the coming days.
Last Saturday, 12 fans died and hundreds were treated by ambulance services after a stampede erupted at one of the gates of the Cuscatlan stadium, shocking the international football community.
According to the investigations, the designated gates were not sufficient for the number of fans and were not opened early, which guarantees an organized and safe entry for the fans.
She added that the organizers, after selling the available tickets for the match, decided to illegally sell tickets for previous matches.
The El Salvador Football Federation fined Alianza $30,000 and banned the club from playing in the presence of its fans for one year.
