After the Diriangen vs. Olimpia game both fan clubs decided to fight it out in the streets. Diriamba fans started the fight but could not end it. Two buses full of Honduran soccer fans ran out of the stadium with police custudy but shots rang out in the streets, police unholstered thier handguns and shot warning shots into the air. Miguel Lorio our other photojournalist who was covering the game with me, and I ran for cover along with two other Honduran photojournalists. Miguel and I had a hard time ducking behind a palm tree. Imagine two fully grown men trying to hide behind a skinny palm tree. A Nicaraguan fan was shot in the head with a small caliber bullet. According to him (yes he survived) he was shot from the bus as he drove next to them in a motorcycle. Another child was wounded in a leg. So here I was running in the middle of the night with gunshots sounding off into the night as the two busloads of Honduran hooligans ran out of town. It was quite a day to say the least.

here are the pics.


Honduran soccer fans come out to fight. Foto LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter - Copyright LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter


Nicaraguan police Commissioner Horacio Rocha unholsters his weapon as shots ring out outside the soccer stadium. Foto LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter - Copyright LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter


Police officers, weapons drawn try to control the Honduran fans. Foto LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter - Copyright LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter


Police officers react to the sound of gunfire as two busloads of Honduran soccer fans move out of the city of Diriamba. Foto LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter - Copyright LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter


Eventually they got out. The buses where detained several hours later by a police tactical unit outside the city of Managua. By then I was too tired and worn out to care. Bismarck Picado our late shift shooter went after hem as the police picked them up at the checkpoint. Foto LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter - Copyright LA PRENSA/Tomas Stargardter