Football fan riots kill three as team bus destroyed in bitter Honduras derby clash

Football fan riots have killed three and injured at least 10 people in the capital of Honduras.

Fans of bitter rivals Olimpia and Motagua clashed outside National Stadium in Tegucigalpa after the bus carrying the Motagua team was attacked.

“Three people died and seven were shot and stabbed,” said Laura Schoenherr, a spokeswoman for the state University School Hospital.

”One of them is a boy. Three of the injured adults are in critical condition.”

Olimpia and Motagua were scheduled to square off against each other on the pitch on Saturday night.

But suspected fans of Olimpia intercepted and vandalised the bus transporting Motagua players.

Motagua blamed the Ultra Fiel fan group, which supports Olimpia, for the attack, and said in a tweet that the group “attacked our team bus while on its way to the national stadium, and various of our players were injured by the glass [shards].

“This has to be severely sanctioned by the corresponding authorities," it said in a statement.

The club also tweeted footage purporting to show players in blue uniforms standing in the still-moving bus beside smashed windows and a glass bottle rolling on a seat. “A rock! A rock! There! There!” someone shouts as a siren blares.

Three players, Emilio Izaguirre, Roberto Moreira and Jonathan Rougier, had to be taken to the hospital following the incident, according to Motagua.

A statement from the Ministry of Security confirmed that the bus attack was erformed by “hooligans wearing jerseys of the opposing team” and explained how the riots unfolded.

“Once the National Football League announced the cancellation of the match, fans of both teams staged a confrontation outside the stadium,” the Ministry said, adding that police had set up “five rings or security” ahead of the game.

The riots also caused a stampede and that police fired tear gas to disperse fans of both sides, Telesur reported.

Police later announced they had detained a man carrying three illegal weapons, including a 38mm revolver.

The National Football League had expected some 20,000 fans to attend.

The Motagua football club announced on Twitter that it would not show up for the match against Olimpia due to the attack.

The president of Olympia club, Rafael Villeda, told local press he would meet with the leadership of the National League and Motagua to decide whether the game would be rescheduled.

Attacks on opposing teams and football riots have a long history in Honduras and have famously even fuelled a four-day war with neighbouring El Salvador in 1969.

Although the war, which has become known as “The Soccer War”, was believed to be largely about migration and land, it broke out as the two national teams clashed to qualify to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and following reports of riots killing and injuring scores of visiting fans.

Additional reporting by Reuters