Four dead as huge crowds celebrate Mexico's World Cup win

MEXICO CITY: Four people died, three of asphyxiation, during late night street celebrations in Mexico City after hundreds of thousands of fans gathered along the capital's main central avenue asMexico beat Ecuador to win their first World Cup knockout match in 40 years.

Mexico City's department of health said in the early hours of Wednesday (Jul 1) that emergency teams had tended to three unconscious people at different locations around Paseo de la Reforma, the emblematic boulevard along which giant screens had been set up showing the match.

A 19-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man received advanced resuscitation efforts but died of suffocation, the health authority said. A third person, a 48-year-old woman, later died in hospital also of asphyxiation.

Authorities later reported a fourth fatality, a man in his 30s who was taken to hospital suffering from severe seizures and gastrointestinal bleeding. He died after a cardiac arrest.

The tragedy occurred after crowds had continued to grow with each Mexican victory as the team progressed through the tournament the soccer-mad country is hosting for the first time since 1986, this year jointly with the US and Canada.

Mexico City had in recent weeks banned alcohol sales on Mexico match days as well as increased the number of screens, and the space between them, in an attempt to improve safety. On Tuesday, more than 2 kilometres of Paseo de la Reforma were closed to traffic and dotted with giant screens showing the match. The city government said around a million people had gathered in the capital.

Local newspaper El Universal reported that the deadly crowd crush had been triggered by pyrotechnics which had caused panic, with people starting to run and some falling and being