River Plate's 0-1 win over Boca Juniors in the Superclásico (Sport1)
Argentina continues to deal with the death of Pablo Marcelo Serrano, a River Plate fan who plummeted to his death from a height of 15 meters at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, where the league leader hosted Defensa y Justicia. The referee stopped the game in the 25th minute, after the results of the tragic incident were revealed, and shortly thereafter the club issued a statement saying that the fan had "jumped".
The incident is still under investigation, but the claim that Serrano, 53, jumped into the same empty space of his own accord has sparked outrage among his family. His daughter Mia, who was in another stand at the stadium at the time, wrote: "I lost my father at the age of 16 and all they are dealing with is whether he committed suicide or not. My father did not commit suicide! He would never have done anything like that, certainly not when I'm in the same place. I don't understand why they say that. Stop, you don't know anything. It was an accident, not a suicide. He fell."
The stand from which the fan fell (Photo by Getty Images, ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP)
A club statement after Saturday's game read: "The safety committee and River Plate Club are sorry to announce that a fan jumped from the Cibury Alta stand and died at the scene. The medical service arrived immediately at the scene, as did the various security officials. The gallery was at 90% occupancy and at the time of the fall there was no third-party intervention. It was also verified that there was no violence in the stands. After about 30 minutes, the stadium was completely evacuated."
Contrary to River's statement and the police's first version, investigators now believe it was indeed an accident, with a TYC report saying Serrano was sitting on a railing, lost his balance and fell. Within 10-15 days, toxicology reports will also arrive to determine whether there was any substance in the victim's body that caused the destabilization.
Serrano, a resident of the city of Morón known as "Carrocha", was a "horse" (club member) in River and part of a group of fans called the "Children of the 20". He came to the game with his friends and his 16-year-old daughter, who, as mentioned, was in another stand at the time of the fall and was only informed of his death after searching for him for a long time after the game was stopped.
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