TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and several injured - including three players - when violence broke out before a Honduran first division football match on Saturday.
Wild scenes erupted around half an hour before the scheduled start of the fifth-round Apertura match between Olimpia and Motagua at the National Stadium in Tegucigalpa, authorities said.
The bloody chain of events began when rival fans attacked Motagua's team bus with rocks and glass bottles as it approached the stadium, according to witnesses.
Paraguayan defender Roberto Moreira, Argentine goalkeeper Jonathan Rougier and Honduran full-back Emilio Izaguirre were taken to hospital after being cut by shards of broken glass, Motagua officials said. Information about the condition of the players was not immediately available.
The incident triggered chaos inside and outside the stadium as supporters of both sides turned on each other. Police fired tear gas in an effort to disperse fans and restore order.
The deceased were males aged between 20 and 27, according to media reports. Another 12 people were injured, some seriously, and were being treated in hospital, the Honduran Red Cross said.
In a statement, the Honduran National Professional Football League said the match was suspended to "safeguard the integrity and safety of fans, players, officials and other personnel".
Honduran communications minister Maria Andrea Matamoros decried the violence and said it is "the responsibility of sports journalists, media and fans to call for calm and show respect for the authorities."
