The deadly stampede that left at least 12 fans dead Saturday in El Salvador, at a football stadium in the capital, has had many dramatic precedents around the world.
In most cases spectators die crushed at the gates of the stadium as a result of a crowd movement, as here where supporters tried to enter to attend a first division match.
Lima, Malang and Moscow
The worst disaster occurred in May 1964 in Peru: it left 320 dead and a thousand injured at the Nasional Stadium in Lima, when a goal disallowed in the qualifying match for the Olympic Games between Peru and Argentina caused a general brawl and a crowd movement in the stands.
Much more recently, on October 1, 2022, a crowd movement occurred in a football stadium in Malang (island of Java, Indonesia) when police tried to repel supporters with tear gas, causing the death of 135 people, including more than forty children, crushed or asphyxiated while trying to use closed or too narrow exit doors.
The mystery still hangs over the number of people who died during a stampede in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow in October 1982 at the end of a UEFA Cup match between Spartak and the Dutch club Haarlem: 66 according to the authorities, but 340 according to an independent investigation.
The Heysel and Sheffield
In Europe, the tragedy of the Heysel in Brussels in May 1985 struck people's minds. Before the start of the final of the European Cup of Champions Clubs between Liverpool and Juventus, English hooligans invade a stand where many Juve tifosi are located. Separation gates and a low wall collapsed under the pressure of the crowd, killing 39 people and injuring some 600.
Four years later, in April 1989, 97 people lost their lives in a stampede at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, suffocated against the fences minutes before the semi-final of the Liverpool-Nottingham Forest FA Cup for which some 2,000 people without tickets tried to force entry.
Accra
In May 2001 in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, 127 spectators died crushed or asphyxiated and several hundred others were injured in a stampede that occurred after a bad decision of the referee, during a championship match between the Accra Hearts and Kumasi. The investigation will castigate the intervention of the police and the closure of the stadium doors.
Port Said
In Egypt, in February 2012, clashes in Port Said between supporters of the local club Al-Masry and the Cairo club Al-Ahly left 74 dead and hundreds injured. The tragedy provoked demonstrations against the military power, accused of inaction in the face of violence (16 other dead).
Yaoundé
During the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (played in 2022) in the Olembe stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon, a crowd of spectators led to the death of eight people, including a 6-year-old child.
Other deadly tragedies
In Kathmandu (Nepal) in 1988, a hundred dead in a crowd movement caused by a violent hailstorm and a power cut during a match.
In Guatemala in 1996, a huge stampede in the undersized stadium of Mateo Flores leaves at least 84 dead and 150 injured.
In Bradford (England) in 1985, a fire in the main stand triggered a panic in the middle of the match. The crowd came up against closed doors: 56 dead, 200 wounded.
In Johannesburg (South Africa) in 2001, 43 people died when thousands of fans without tickets forced their way into the already packed Ellis Park stadium.