MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0After Mexico\u2019s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the first round of the knockout stage of the World Cup, fans streamed into the streets here to celebrate, blowing horns, waving flags and shouting: \u201cLet\u2019s go to the Angel!\u201d<\/p>\n
An estimated 1 million people had flocked to the Angel of Independence, a towering monument on Mexico City\u2019s main boulevard, to watch the game on massive screens. More revelers headed there after the match to party. Red, green and white fireworks exploded, music boomed and strangers danced and cheered together. <\/p>\n
But the street was much too crowded. Panic surged, and many fans found themselves packed together with no clear escape. <\/p>\n
Three people died from suffocation, authorities said. A fourth reveler died from a heart attack. <\/p>\n
The tragedy dampened what had been nationwide jubilation over the unexpected triumphs of El Tri, as Mexico\u2019s national team is known. The squad has won four matches in a row, elevating it for the first time in four decades to the competition\u2019s round of 16. <\/p>\n
Mexico\u2019s improbable run after years of failing to make it out of the group stage has sparked a feeling of collective hope, a rare commodity in a country battling powerful drug cartels, a stagnant economy and unprecedented pressure from President Trump. An informal slogan has emerged here: \u201c\u00bfY si?\u201d It means, \u201cWhat if?\u201d What if Mexico\u2019s team is able, somehow, to pull off the extraordinary?<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s massive celebrations have made international headlines, with videos of exuberant fans rocking cars and even buses going viral. During the Ecuador match, so many fans jumped simultaneously after Mexico scored that seismographs here registered \u201cartificial earthquakes.\u201d <\/p>\n
But there has been a dark side to the revelry. Two other tragedies have also marred celebrations. <\/p>\n
In Cabo San Lucas last month, a crowd rejoicing after Mexico\u2019s victory over the Czech Republic rocked a car in the street. The driver accelerated, wounding 17 people. A similar incident in Chihuahua City after Mexico\u2019s win over South Korea also resulted in injuries. <\/p>\n
As Mexico\u2019s team prepares to take on England on Sunday night, a match that many predict will be the toughest yet for El Tri, authorities nationwide are vowing to strengthen safety protocols.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Mexico City say they will again erect screens along the Paseo de la Reforma, the capital\u2019s iconic thoroughfare, but will space them out to keep crowds from congregating at a single point. <\/p>\n
Mayor Clara Brugada discouraged fans from going to the Angel monument, saying the city would offer celebrations at other locations. <\/p>\n
President Claudia Sheinbaum said authorities were investigating what went wrong during the deadly stampede at the Angel \u2014 but deflected blame from officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to deploy police to contain 1 million people,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
She urged fans \u201cto avoid excessive alcohol consumption\u201d during Sunday\u2019s match, and asked them to look out for each other. \u201cAct responsibly,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Sheinbaum, a leftist populist, has declined to attend World Cup games in person, saying \u201ctickets are very expensive.\u201d <\/p>\n
But she has celebrated each of the team\u2019s victories at her daily news conference, recently inviting to the stage Merlin, a duck that became an internet sensation for waddling among fans along Reforma in a green Mexico jersey. <\/p>\n
Cecilia S\u00e1nchez Vidal in The Times\u2019 Mexico bureau contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0After Mexico\u2019s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the first round of the knockout stage of the World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[14541,6577,283,155662,7363,11154,12411,48,52,51,47,50,49,155661,22169,2457,10353,592,1291,8934,155660],"class_list":["post-385775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angel","tag-authority","tag-car","tag-chihuahua-city","tag-country","tag-fan","tag-first-round","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-massive-celebration","tag-match","tag-mexico","tag-national-team","tag-people","tag-street","tag-victory","tag-world-cup-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}