Soccer: Fan falls from the stands at a soccer game in Argentina and dies

Accident in the 27th minute
Fan falls from the stands at a soccer game in Argentina and dies

Police and security guards secure an area where a spectator fell from a stand and died during a football match between River Plate and Defensa y Justicia at Monumental Stadium.

© Nicolas Aboaf/AP/dpa

A spectator fell from the stands and died during a game in Argentina’s first football league.

The game of the 19th matchday between leaders River Plate and Defensa y Justicia on Saturday in the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires was stopped because of the accident in the 27th minute when the score was 0-0.

The exact circumstances of the incident were initially unclear. River Plate said there was no impact from third parties during the fall. The dead man was therefore a River fan who was also a member of the club. The grandstand was 90 percent full and there was no violence there.

The stadium was immediately evacuated

The stadium – the largest in the South American country with a capacity of more than 83,000 seats – was reportedly evacuated within 30 minutes. The security forces and a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office for major events have started the investigation. It was a day of deep sadness, River Plate wrote on Twitter. The team’s coach is ex-Bundesliga player Martín Demichelis.

In Argentine football there are always outbreaks of violence and problems due to overcrowded stadiums. Guest fans have therefore not been allowed into the stadiums in the league since 2013.

ckl
dpa

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