MEXICO CITY – A football match in central Mexico saw violent clashes between fans of opposing teams on Saturday. Authorities said 22 people were injured, two of them in critical condition.
The match, at a stadium in the city of Querétaro, was postponed after just over an hour of play when the fans began to attack each other, causing panic among other spectators, many of whom had already died. ran into the yard, according to the news and video from the scene.
Shocking footage posted on social media shows groups of men dragging people across the concrete outside the stadium, kicking, beating and tearing their clothes. Another video shows a topless man being beaten and whipped.
“I strongly condemn the violence today at Corregidora Stadium,” Mauricio Kuri, governor of Querétaro state, said on Twitter. “I have given instructions for applying the law with all its consequences. In Querétaro there is no punishment.”
Atlas, the defending champion of Liga MX, the Mexican soccer league, was leading Querétaro’s team 1-0 when a brawl broke out in the stands. Violence quickly spread to the field and the area around the stadium, according to videos shared online.
Liga MX said in a statement that it had begun “an in-depth investigation into what happened in the stands, on the field and outside the building during the match.”
