Three killed and injured in riots before Honduran derby

At least three people were killed and seven others injured in a riot on Saturday night among football fans ahead of a national league match in Honduras, a hospital receiving the victims said on Sunday.

Fans of Olympia and Motagua, traditional local rivals, clashed outside the National Stadium in the capital Tegucigalpa in the Central American country.

“We have received seven people, three of whom died and four others are still in the emergency room,” hospital spokesman Juliet Chavarria told AFP.

The violence is believed to have started when the coach of the Motagua team was attacked, injuring three players, the club’s president said on social media.

Three of the squad were rushed to hospital for treatment.

“Bottles and stones were thrown at him, the players slammed to the ground screaming,” Motagua coach Diego Vazquez told local media.

The meeting was suspended by the National Football Association following the incident.

The stadium was packed with 10,000 fans when the violence erupted outside it, and the stampede as they left injured a large number of supporters of the two teams, who were trapped amid the tear gas pulled by police outside the stadium.

The match was expected as it was the first confrontation between Vasquez and Olympia’s new coach Pedro Troglio. Police considered the match “high-risk” and deployed 5,000 police on and off the pitch.

Authorities had banned an extreme wing of Olympia fans known for their violent tactics from attending the game for fear of violence