The crash of a Peruvian navy plane that killed the members of the Alianza Lima professional soccer team near Lima adds more tragedy to the game of soccer, in which incidents related to the game have left more than 1,000 people dead.
The plane with 44 people aboard -- including 29 players, coaches and trainers from one of Peru's most popular soccer teams -- crashed Tuesday night into the Pacific Ocean, apparently killing everyone but the pilot, authorities said. The team was returning to Lima from a match at the top of a 16-team league when the plane crashed.
Many other professional soccer players have died in plane crashes and hundreds of fans have perished in stadium collapses. The following is a chronology of the major soccer-related tragedies since World War II: 1946 Thirty-three people died and 500 were injured March 9 in Bolton, England, when a wall collapsed at Burnden Park stadium during a game between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City. 1949 The Torino team of Italy was wiped out May 4 when a plane slammed into the Superga Basilica near Turin. A total of 28 people died. 1958 Eight players and three officials of the English Manchester United club, and eight journalists, died Feb. 6 in a plane crash in Munich. 1961 A plane carrying 24 members of the Chilean First Division team Green Cross crashed April 3 into the side of the Las Lastimas mountain on a trip from Santiago to Osorno. 1962 In Libreville, Gabon, an international game between Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon was halted when a landslide hit the stadium Sept. 21. Nine spectators died and 30 were injured. 1964 In the world's worst soccer disaster, 318 people died and another 500 were injured in Lima, Peru May 24 when riot broke out after a last-minute goal by the Peruvian national team against Argentina was disallowed. The goal would have given Peru a berth in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Government invoked martial law for 30 days. 1967 The nullification of a goal during a Turkish championship game provoked a riot in which 41 persons died and 600 were hurt. Most of the fans who died were trampled as thousands fled the stadium. 1968 In Buenos Aires at River Plate's Estadio Monumental 74 people were killed and 113 injured June 23 during a fight between supporters at the end of a match between arch-rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors. 1969 Nineteen players and officials of The Strongest, Bolivia's most popular team died when their plane crashed Sept. 26 in the Andes. 1969 A game June 22 between El Salvador and Honduras, in which El Salvador won 3-2, sparked the 'Soccer War.' Hundreds of Honduran citizens attacked Salvadorans in their country, causing an undetermined number of deaths. The Salvadoran government retaliated with an armed attack against Honduras. Conflict was stopped when Organization of American States intervened. 1971 Sixty-six people were trampled to death and 150 injured Jan. 22 at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Scotland, when they tumbled down a stairway after the Rangers-Celtic New Year's Day match. 1971 During a lower division match between Turkish clubs Kayseri and Siwas, a platform collapsed Sept. 17. Forty people died and 600 injured. 1974 In Cairo, Egypt, crowds attempting to enter a match at the Zamalek Stadium broke down barriers, a wall collapsed and 48 people were killed and 50 injured Feb. 17. Investigation determined the stadium filled beyond capacity. 1976 Two fans were killed Oct. 31 at a match in Yaounde, Cameroon, following the outbreak of a melee. Trouble started when the Gambian referee ordered a penalty against Cameroon. 1979 Seventeen players of Praktkor Tashkent in Soviet Union were killed in plane crash. 1981 Eighteen fans died, 45 were injured when wall collapsed in Ibague, Colombia, during 1st Division match between Deportes Tolima and Deportivo Cali. 1982 In Cali, Colombia, group of drunken youths urinated from an upper deck of Pascual Guerrero Stadium, provoking stampede that left 22 persons dead and more than 100 injured. 1982 Fifty fans died in riot after match between Dutch League Haarlem and Moscow Spartak. 1985 Fifty-three people burned to death and more than 200 injured May 12 when the main grandstand of English 3rd Division Champions Bradford City was destroyed by fire. On the same day in England a 15-year-old boy at his first match died when a wall collapsed during the English 2nd Division match between Birmingham and Leeds. 1985 Thirty-nine people died and more than 400 were injured May 29 when a wall collapsed during a riot started by English fans an hour before the start of the European Champions Cup final between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. English teams were banned indefinitely from taking part in European competition. 1987 Twenty-nine players, coaches and trainers of Alianza Lima soccer team were killed Dec. 8 returning home from a Peruvian League match when their plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean 6 miles north of Lima.
