<p>Twelve people were killed and hundreds injured Saturday in a stampede at an El Salvador soccer stadium, police and emergency services said.</p>.<p>Authorities said initial reports pointed to a crush of fans who tried to enter Cuscatlan Stadium in the Central American country's capital San Salvador to watch a local tournament match between teams Alianza and FAS.</p>.<p>The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.</p>.<p>"Salvadoran soccer is in mourning," National Civil Police (PNC) director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters as he confirmed the death toll of 12.</p>.<p>Among the stampede survivors, Sandra Guzman, 40, left a capital hospital early Sunday with a bandage on her left knee, walking with difficulty alongside her friend, Javier Ramirez, 31.</p>.<p>Both said this was the "first and last time" they would experience such a misfortune because they would not return to the stadium.</p>.<p>"A large crowd of people fell on me. I couldn't even breathe, they were choking me," Guzman told AFP.</p>.<p>When she was in front of a stadium gate, she said "people were pushing me to get in, they didn't give me a chance to go back. When I came to see, I panicked, I had a lot of people on top of me.</p>.<p>"I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital."</p>.<p>Health Minister Francisco Alabi said earlier that the country's hospital network was "providing medical care to all patients."</p>.<p>Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the emergency services group Comandos de Salvamento, said they were treating more than 500 people.</p>.<p>About 100 people in serious condition were taken to hospital, with some showing signs of asphyxia and other types of trauma, Fuentes said.</p>.<p>The stampede apparently started after a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together, he said.</p>.<p>At least two of the injured were in critical condition, according to police.</p>.<p>El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said the PNC and the Attorney General's Office would investigate the incident and those responsible would be punished.</p>.<p>"Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation," Bukele said on Twitter.</p>.<p>He warned that "whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished."</p>.<p>Arriaza of the PNC said the investigation would determine responsibility "either by action or omission of some of those in charge."</p>.<p>Police also aim to learn "why the fans made the decision to break through one of the gates on the south side" of the stadium.</p>.<p>In the same area, there were issues with the ticket office's QR readers, he said.</p>.<p>The Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) said in a statement it "deeply regrets" the events that occurred at the stadium and "expresses its solidarity" with the families of those "affected and killed."</p>.<p>"Fesfut will immediately request a report of what happened and will communicate the relevant information as soon as possible," it said.</p>.<p>Due to the incident, the federation said "all soccer is suspended at the national level" on Sunday.</p>.<p>The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people, including more than 40 children, were killed in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia.</p>
<p>Twelve people were killed and hundreds injured Saturday in a stampede at an El Salvador soccer stadium, police and emergency services said.</p>.<p>Authorities said initial reports pointed to a crush of fans who tried to enter Cuscatlan Stadium in the Central American country's capital San Salvador to watch a local tournament match between teams Alianza and FAS.</p>.<p>The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed.</p>.<p>"Salvadoran soccer is in mourning," National Civil Police (PNC) director Mauricio Arriaza told reporters as he confirmed the death toll of 12.</p>.<p>Among the stampede survivors, Sandra Guzman, 40, left a capital hospital early Sunday with a bandage on her left knee, walking with difficulty alongside her friend, Javier Ramirez, 31.</p>.<p>Both said this was the "first and last time" they would experience such a misfortune because they would not return to the stadium.</p>.<p>"A large crowd of people fell on me. I couldn't even breathe, they were choking me," Guzman told AFP.</p>.<p>When she was in front of a stadium gate, she said "people were pushing me to get in, they didn't give me a chance to go back. When I came to see, I panicked, I had a lot of people on top of me.</p>.<p>"I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital."</p>.<p>Health Minister Francisco Alabi said earlier that the country's hospital network was "providing medical care to all patients."</p>.<p>Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the emergency services group Comandos de Salvamento, said they were treating more than 500 people.</p>.<p>About 100 people in serious condition were taken to hospital, with some showing signs of asphyxia and other types of trauma, Fuentes said.</p>.<p>The stampede apparently started after a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together, he said.</p>.<p>At least two of the injured were in critical condition, according to police.</p>.<p>El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said the PNC and the Attorney General's Office would investigate the incident and those responsible would be punished.</p>.<p>"Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation," Bukele said on Twitter.</p>.<p>He warned that "whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished."</p>.<p>Arriaza of the PNC said the investigation would determine responsibility "either by action or omission of some of those in charge."</p>.<p>Police also aim to learn "why the fans made the decision to break through one of the gates on the south side" of the stadium.</p>.<p>In the same area, there were issues with the ticket office's QR readers, he said.</p>.<p>The Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) said in a statement it "deeply regrets" the events that occurred at the stadium and "expresses its solidarity" with the families of those "affected and killed."</p>.<p>"Fesfut will immediately request a report of what happened and will communicate the relevant information as soon as possible," it said.</p>.<p>Due to the incident, the federation said "all soccer is suspended at the national level" on Sunday.</p>.<p>The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people, including more than 40 children, were killed in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia.</p>