A person dies during clashes in a soccer match in Argentina
A person was killed yesterday when violent clashes erupted near an Argentine soccer match outside the capital, Buenos Aires, between Boca Juniors and Jimnasia e Esgrima, and spread to the stands and the field, authorities said.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas outside the Juan Carmelo Serio stadium in La Plata, about 50 kilometers south of the Argentine capital, in an attempt to prevent fans from storming the already filled stadium.
Unrest continued inside, with shocked fans seen trying to get over the fence to escape the violence and onto the pitch.
"I can confirm the death of a person. This person died of cardiac arrest," said Sergio Berni, security minister for Buenos Aires province, where the match was held in the first division.
Referee Hernan Mastrangelo said, minutes after the players and the technical staff left the pitch to the changing rooms, that the match was suspended after nine minutes until further notice "due to the lack of (security) guarantees".
"It affected all of us on the field. The air became unbreathable. The situation got out of hand and there were no security guarantees."
Authorities at San Martin Hospital in La Plata confirmed the death of a 57-year-old man of cardiac arrest while being transported from the stadium to hospital.
Many fans, including children accompanied by their parents, rushed out of the stands and onto the pitch, where people were seen sitting or lying down to recover from the tear gas.
These events come at a crucial period in the league, four stages before the end, as the relay represented the last chance for Jimnasia to remain in the title competition, while Boca Juniors was looking forward to climbing to the top.
These events occurred five days after a stampede in a soccer stadium in Indonesia caused by police throwing tear gas, which killed at least 131 people, including 32 children.
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