3 killed, 10 injured in riots before football match in Honduras
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Three persons were killed and at least 10 injured in riots Saturday night before a football match between rival teams after suspected fans attacked a bus carrying one of the two teams to the game, wounding three players, officials and the team said.
“Three people died and seven were shot and stabbed. One of them is a boy. Three of the injured adults are in critical condition,” Laura Schoenherr, a spokeswoman for the state University School Hospital, told Reuters.
The riot broke out after crowds threw stones at the bus carrying members of the Motagua team, sending shards of window glass at the players inside, according to the Motagua club, which blamed members of the Ultra-Faithful Olimpia fan club.
Fans of the Olimpia and Motagua football teams, bitter local opponents, rioted outside Tegucigalpa’s National Stadium after a crowd of people believed to be rival supporters intercepted and vandalized a bus transporting Motagua players, police said.
A statement from the Ministry of Security confirmed the bus attack and said its perpetrators wore the uniforms of the rival Olimpia team. The ministry added in the statement that it had set up “five rings of security” ahead of the game.
The National Football League suspended the game after the incident. It had expected some 20,000 fans to attend.
