El Salvador Stadium stampede leaves at least 12 dead as President warns culprits 'will not go unpunished'

Tragedy struck at a football match in El Salvador with up to 12 people dead following a crush in the Central American country’s capital San Salvador.

The incident happened during the fixture between local team Allianza and the Santa Ana-based side Fas at Cuscatlan Stadium, officials said. The country’s president Nayib Bukele promised an "exhaustive investigation” as he described the disaster as “unprecedented”. All the victims were aged over 18 and police had earlier said that seven men and two women were among the dead.

Officials said fake tickets had been sold with reports that a huge number of fans tried to gain entry to the stadium after the gates had been closed. Describing the devastation, a volunteer with the Rescue Commandos first aid group said: "It was an avalanche of fans who overran the gate. 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."

A livestream of the match posted on YouTube shows the match being suspended with people then seen being carried away on stretchers. Bukele’s press secretary said on Twitter: “Whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished. The Salvadoran Soccer Federation suspended all matches scheduled to take place on Sunday.

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