At least four dead in Honduras football stadium stampede

A stampede left at least four dead and 15 wounded at an overcrowded Honduran stadium hosting a championship football match on Sunday, police said.

Hundreds of fans hoping to see the sold-out match tried to force their way into a gate at the 35,000-seat National Stadium in the capital Tegucigalpa, said hospital spokesman Miguel Osorio.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon at the crowd, he said.

The fatalities were people who were trampled to death in the crush fleeing the police response, Osorio said.

Two died at the stadium as the game was getting under way, and two later at the hospital, he added.

It happened before the Honduran league championship game between Motagua and Honduras Progreso.

The stadium was packed beyond its seating capacity because too many tickets were sold for the season-ending game, police spokesman Luis Barahona said.

Source: AFP