GUATEMALA and Costa Rica were in mourning yesterday following a human avalanche at a World Cup qualifying soccer match here that left at least 80 people dead and another 150 injured.
The President of Guatemala, Mr Alvaro Arzu, who arrived at the Mateo Flores stadium 20 minutes after what he called "one of the worst tragedies of our country", called off the qualifier between Costa Rica and Guatemala, and declared three days of national mourning.
The President of Costa Rica, Mr Jose Maria Figueres, was part of a group of 90 leaders and exfootball stars from the country in Guatemala for the match.
Inside the stadium bodies were laid out in rows as many spectators and some of the players were in tears as they helped the injured make their way to ambulances.
Fire fighters said the catastrophe was caused by overcrowding at the stadium, where 55 000 people were crammed inside - 10,000 more than its maximum capacity.
They said another 20 000 people had massed outside the main entrance before the game a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup in France.
Before the match started a gate gave way, releasing a human avalanche that crushed hundreds of spectators.
The exact death toll from the tragedy was still unclear yesterday. The municipal fire department estimated "82 or 83 dead" but Dr Mario Rene Guerra, a forensic doctor at the morgue, said he had 78 bodies.
A fire spokesman said the number of fatalities was likely to rise, as many of the 150 injured were in "very serious condition".
Deputy Minister of State, Mr Salvador Gandara, said the game was oversold and an unknown number of fake tickets for the game had also been printed, causing overcrowding at the stadium.
Mr Gandara said the there would be an official investigation.
Besides fire fighters, police and rescue units, the injured were helped by medical students from the University of San Carlos, and also the soccer teams' coaches.
Health authorities were requesting blood donations over radio and television to cope with the injured.
Mr Arzu, at the stadium to watch the soccer match, unexpectedly stood in the middle of the playing field and announced through a microphone that there would be no match after a confused and dazed official from FIFA, the international football federation, failed to take action.