Chaos at Colo-Colo: Two teenagers die during unrest, fans recount havoc at the stadium
Tragedy struck at the Estadio Monumental in Santiago, Chile as two fans died at Colo-Colo’s Copa Libertadores fixture against Brazilian side Fortaleza on Thursday, 10th of April. The fans that died were two teenagers, a 13 year old boy and an 18 year old girl. The cause of their deaths is yet to be confirmed, with many conflicting reports and accounts about the incident.
Fans had allegedly tried to enter the stadium premises illegally through an adjacent building, the Casa Alba. It has been reported there were between 100-150 fans involved, who toppled over a fence. The intrusion allegedly led to a clash between fans and the police outside the stadium, the chaos of which built up to the incident.
“A stampede ensued, resulting in the collapse of a fence,” said local prosecutor Francisco Morales. The victims were reportedly trapped under the collapsed fence, with a ‘Zorillo’ or police van allegedly crushing them further. However, the sister of one of the victims provided another point of view.
“Nicolás, her friend, tried to save her, but the vehicle hit her anyway”, said Bárbara Pérez, sister of the 18 year old victim, speaking to Meganoticias.
“She had her ticket, her ID, everything in order, she wasn’t trying to sneak in.”
The incident reportedly took place at 6:30 PM local time, 90 minutes before kick off. News of the victims deaths was supposedly spread to fans inside the stadium, which led to protests, as fans threw objects such as iron bars towards the ground and stormed the pitch in protest, with players having to calm them down.
As the situation worsened, CONMEBOL suspended the game around the 70th minute and have now abandoned the fixture due to “lack of security guarantees”.
“At the beginning everything seemed normal to me. I entered the stadium with my friends without any problems. At half-time we noticed that people in the bar started talking about the death of a 13 or 14 year old boy outside the stadium. That’s when the first problems started between the police and the fans”, said one fan about his accounts at the stadium.
“In the 60th minute of the match everything was silenced, which was totally unnatural. The fans stopped singing, the drums stopped blaring and people started waving white scarves and their T-shirts as a way of showing respect to the deceased.”
“It was in the 70th minute that everything got out of control”, added another fan.
“Some of the “ultras” of the Garra Blanca broke a glass of the stadium and entered the pitch. That’s when the Fortaleza players escaped into the tunnel and the Colo-Colo players tried to calm the fans down. What bothered me the most was that some were trying to take selfies with the players.”
Matters did not calm down any time soon, as leaving was not an option for the fans.
“The exit was chaos. As soon as everything happened, my friends and I tried to leave the stadium, but it was impossible, as they had closed the gates. We looked like we were in a prison.”
“When we were allowed to leave, the chaos got worse: I saw fights between fans and police, families trying to escape, windows bursting, anti-socials throwing Molotov cocktails and the police using their water cannon trucks to try to separate the crowd. In between all that, I managed to escape.”
This calamity has come at an awful time as Colo-Colo were set to celebrate their 100th anniversary in just over a week on 19th April, as a moment of jubilation will now be a period of mourning.
“The most terrible thing about this is the loss of human life. The centenary, the matches, the sanctions, we will see them, we will discuss them, we will analyse them with the appropriate people, but the hardest thing is the death of these two fans, which has shocked us”, said Aníbal Mosa, president of Blanco y Negro, the board concessionaire that manages Colo-Colo.
“There are all the images, with these bandits who invaded the pitch, they smashed the windows with stones and sticks, it is a very terrible thing, which is very damaging to the institution, because these so-called fans do not come to watch a football match, they come to cause trouble”, added Mosa about the unrest caused by the pitch invaders.
Colo-Colo captain, Arturo Vidal shared his sorrows about the victims on his Instagram account, stating- “My condolences to the friends and family of the fans who lost their lives today. I know that they will keep supporting them from heaven.”
Colo-Colo’s reputation in South American football is one to behold. They have won the most titles in the Chilean Primera División with 34 and are the only Chilean team to win the Copa Libertadores in 1991, even reaching the quarter finals in last year’s edition.
This incident is a black mark on their legacy, as it can result in sanctions from CONMEBOL that can affect the club and its fans. Colo-Colo can receive upto 15 sanctions based on CONMEBOL’s regulations, potentially ranging from their disqualification from the Copa Libertadores to playing matches behind closed doors.
Whatever the future holds for Colo-Colo, there is a deeper issue regarding stadium security and fan safety that CONMEBOL needs to address. Multiple incidents regarding fan safety continue to occur in South America, even during high profile events such as the Copa America and now in the Copa Libertadores. Going to a football match should be a celebration, but if safety is going to be a concern, should fans see going to a football game as a life or death situation?
