Four people died as more than a million fans flooded Mexico City’s streets to celebrate the national team’s first World Cup knockout victory in 40 years – a euphoria punctured by the sight of paramedics trying to revive victims lying on the ground.
The capital’s health secretariat confirmed the deaths in the early hours of Wednesday, hours after Mexico’s 2-0 win over Ecuador at the Estadio Azteca sent the co-hosts into the last 16. Three of the victims – a 44-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman and a 48-year-old woman – died from suffocation after being caught in the crowds around the Angel of Independence monument and along Paseo de la Reforma, the city’s most emblematic boulevard. The fourth fatality was a man in his 30s who suffered severe seizures and gastrointestinal bleeding and died of cardiac arrest after being taken to hospital.
“Four people died, three from suffocation, as over a million fans celebrated Mexico's World Cup win in Mexico City.”
Emergency teams treated three unconscious people at different locations around Paseo de la Reforma, the health authority said. “After receiving advanced resuscitation efforts, the deaths of a 44-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman from suffocation have been confirmed,” it initially posted on social media. The third suffocation victim was a 48-year-old woman who was treated on a nearby street, and the man in his 30s was later reported as a fourth death.
Mayor Clara Brugada expressed her “most sincere condolences” to the families and urged fans to “always celebrate with responsibility, care, and empathy”. Prior to the match, she had warned supporters hoping to watch near the Angel of Independence to look elsewhere because of the huge crowds already gathered there.
The city government said more than one million people had taken to the streets, mainly around the downtown monument, to mark the country’s first World Cup knockout win since 1986. Social media images showed fans cheering and chanting, alongside pictures of emergency responders tending to distressed people lying on nearby streets.
Mexico’s victory sets up a potential round-of-16 clash with England, if Thomas Tuchel’s side beat DR Congo on Wednesday. With more than 20 million residents in the metropolitan area, Mexico City is one of the most densely populated places on the planet – a city accustomed to huge celebrations, but one where Tuesday’s joy came with a devastating toll.