Two football fans have been killed after being crushed by a riot police vehicle after a riot began outside of a stadium.
The victims killed by the incident were Martina Riquelme, 18, and an unnamed 13-year-old.
Trouble began shortly after 6.30pm a couple of hours before the match was set to kick off.
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A group of people tried to illegally enter the stadium, and caused a fence to collapse in the process.
According to prosecutor Francisco Mores, of the Eastern Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office “at least 100 subjects tried to throw away the bars” attached to the fence.
They immediately deployed officers who, according to local press, intervened with gas-launching tanks during the stampede.
Witnesses have told local press that at the time the fence collapsed, a police vehicle passed over.
The incident proved fatal for Martina and the minor on Tuesday (8 Apr).
Both were taken to a hospital where one died instantly, and the other passed away hours later, as reported by Need To Know.
The news of their deaths soon reached football fans who gathered inside the stadium ready for the match between Colo Colo and Foraleza at 8pm.
This further increased tension from attendees towards Carabineros, and people had stormed the football pitch by 9.30pm.
That same night, the Prosecutor’s Office began checking the stadium’s cameras to determine if a police vehicle was involved in the fall of the fence.
The Minister of Public Security, Luis Cordero, confirmed around midnight on 10 April that a police vehicle appeared to aggravate the incident.
Luis has said that the Carabineros officials involved ‘have the status of accused and are at the disposal of the Prosecutor’.
He added that one of the agents was immediately removed from his operational duties and that an investigation was ongoing to determine his responsibilities in the events that took place.
The Secretary of State said that the deaths of the two teenagers was something the government “deeply regretted.”
He added that “football must be a safe show for families, without risks or violence.”
And he assured that the acts of vandalism that preceded the tragedy will be thoroughly investigated.
The incident occurred at The Monumental Stadium, in Macul, Santiago, Chile.
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