Eight Die at Estadio Fonte Nova, Brazil
By Tom Dunmore • Nov 25th, 2007 • Category: News & Notes • 3 responsesTerrible news just filtering in tonight via our friends at Gramsci’s Kingdom that a stand has collapsed at Estadio Fonte Nova, playing host to a Brazilian Serie C game, with at least eight feared dead. Go there for more details and updates, and I’ll also try to report here if any more news comes in.
Edit: more details from Reuters coming in:
At least seven people died and dozens were injured on Sunday when part of a spectator stand collapsed at a stadium in northeastern Brazil during a professional soccer match, firefighters said.
Television footage from Salvador, a candidate city to host soccer World Cup matches in 2014, showed a hole in the floor of the stadium’s upper tier and the bodies of several people who had apparently fallen to the street below. Others were being treated inside the stadium.
A duty fire brigade officer in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, said over 40 people were taken to hospital.
Some 60,000 people were in Fonte Nova stadium to watch the third division match between local side Bahia and opponents Vila Nova from Goiania.
As cheering fans jumped up and down the stands, part of the structure gave way toward the end of the game.
Hundreds of people, unaware of what had happened, charged onto the field at the end of the match to celebrate the local team’s promotion to the second division after 0-0 draw. They tore up pieces of turf to take home as souvenirs and knocked over advertising boards.
Tom Dunmore is the editor of Pitch Invasion.
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I just saw a couple of pictures posted on Sportsline — here’s a shot of the collapsed stand:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4083/xvc1081125191024×768rd9.jpg
The second one is a bit gruesome, as it depicts a few of the dead bodies lying on the ground, wrapped in plastic sheets. You probably get the idea.
What’s astounding about this is that there were people who had no clue what had happened, or that match officials weren’t notified. I guess it must have happened toward the end of the match.
It’s remarkable how long it takes people to realise the scale of disaster when it takes place in football. Or even if they do, continuing to play the game. The fact the European Cup final was played to a conclusion at the Heysel disaster still amazes me.
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