One dead, 47 injured after incident at Peru football derby

One person has died and 47 others were hurt on Friday night during an unspecified "incident" at Alejandro Villanueva Stadium in the capital of Peru, as reported by the health ministry. Health Minister Juan Carlos Velasco informed the media, “There has been an unfortunate incident at the stadium in which 47 people have been injured...and sadly there is one fatality,” but he did not give any details about what caused it. Initially, the incident was thought to be linked to part of a stadium wall collapsing, but the Alianza Lima football team later stated on X that the accident was not due to “the fall of walls or structural failures of the sports complex.” Velasco mentioned that 39 of the injured were taken to hospitals across the Lima region, with three in critical condition. Fire Chief Marcos Pajuelo told reporters that “the structure of the southern stands appeared to be in good condition. There are no collapsed walls or sections fallen into the pit.” The match between Alianza Peru and Club Universitario de Deportes is still scheduled to take place as planned on Saturday night, according to a statement from the Peruvian football league.