One person died Thursday when violent clashes erupted near an Argentine football league match outside Buenos Aires between Boca Juniors and Gimnasia e Esgrima and spread to the stands and pitch, authorities said.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas near the Juan Carmelo Serio Stadium in La Plata, about 50 kilometers south of the Argentine capital, in an attempt to stop fans from storming the already packed stadium.
Riots continued inside, with shocked fans attempting to climb over the fence to escape the violence and onto the pitch.
“I can confirm that one person has died,” said Sergio Berni, minister of security for the province of Buenos Aires, where the match was played in the first division. This man died of cardiac arrest.
Referee Hernán Mastrangelo said a few minutes after the players and technical staff left the field for the dressing rooms that the match was suspended after nine minutes until further notice “due to lack of (security) guarantees”.
“It affected all of us on the pitch,” he continued. The air became unbreathable. The situation got out of control and there were no guarantees of safety.
Authorities at the San Martin Hospital in La Plata have confirmed the death of a 57-year-old man from cardiac arrest while being transported from the stadium to the hospital.
Many fans, including children accompanied by their parents, rushed from the stands to the field, where people were seen sitting or lying down to recover from the tear gas.
These events come at a decisive time in the league, with four stages to go, as the relay represented Gymnasia’s last chance to stay in title competition while Boca Juniors looked forward to rising to the top.
The events come five days after a police tear gas stampede at a football stadium in Indonesia killed at least 131 people, including 32 children.