A River fan died this Saturday when he fell from the Sivori Alta del Monumental grandstand, which meant the immediate suspension of the game that was being played. According to the club, “there was no intervention by third parties” and it would have been the fan who “jumped into the void”, a version that his family denies.
The victim was identified as Pablo Serrano, 53 years old, who was in the stadium with Mía, her 15-year-old daughter, and a group of friends. 26 minutes into the match between River and Defensa y Justicia, Serrano, who was in the Sívori Alta stand, fell in a corridor in the Sívori Baja stalls. Realizing the situation, the fans who were in that sector they began to yell for the meeting to stop in order to provide medical assistance to the man.
Who was Pablo Serrano, the River fan who died in the Monumental: the disconsolate reaction of his friends
The match stopped for a few seconds and then resumed. However, given the insistent demand for medical personnel by the River Plate fans, the referee Fernando Rapallini stopped the game again. Immediately afterwards, he spoke with the correspondents of the Professional League, who commented on the panorama.
Upon learning of the situation, Rapallini called the captains, Franco Armani and Ezequiel Unsain, to inform them of what had happened. Faced with the alarming panorama, both referents communicated the tragedy to their colleagues and opted to support the decision of the authorities to suspend the meeting that could define the aspirations of the “Millionaire” and the “Falcon” in the Professional Soccer League.
Immediately, 911 was called to request the presence of personnel from the 13th Neighborhood Police Station, who arrived and set up a City Police tent. The case was left in charge of the prosecutor Celsa Ramírez, specialized in Massive Events. During Saturday night, she determined that the sector where the tragedy occurred remained closed for at least another 24 hoursuntil the skills and police investigation tasks are completed.
Images from internal cameras showed that the person fell into the void in circumstances that are being investigated. That video was preserved by the authorities. Medical personnel arrived in the area a minute after the event occurred and people were asked to remain in the stands to be able to evacuate the property.
“We were summoned from the stadium. You know that the internal part is covered by private emergencies, SAME covers the sidewalk of the stadium. However, taking into account the information we had, both the triage unit and the Pirovano ambulances entering the stadium The death of a man was confirmed. Very serious head trauma, died instantly. It is a fall of more than 15 meters high,” said the head of SAME, Alberto Crescenti.
Serrano’s daughter was not with him when he fell, but that it had been located in another sector of the stadium. However, it was the young woman who recognized her body, suspecting that it could be her father after hearing the description of the victim’s clothing. Before knowing the outcome, the teenager and Serrano’s friends were looking for him and tried to contact him by phone.
By identifying the fan, from the club they made their acquaintances enter to provide them with greater containment. Likewise, they summoned them to consult them for any information that could be used to find out the reason why the sympathizer would have jumped into the void. Added to this, the police called them to identify the corpse.
One of the witnesses recounted that he witnessed the dramatic moment: “I was in the Sívori Baja, the new popular one. An explosion was heard, as if a firecracker had been thrown. I was at 20 or 30 meters, the capacity was full. What I saw is that they were asking for an ambulance and that the game be suspended because it was serious.”
What does Serrano’s autopsy say?
The results of the autopsy of Pablo Serrano were known this Sunday. The experts determined that the death was due to “polytrauma and open head trauma with loss of brain mass and internal bleeding” suffered by the fall from the Sívori Alta.
For now, The results of the toxicological studies still remain to be known.. In addition, sources of the investigation confirmed to the agency Argentine News that the images from the security cameras are under review with the aim of noticing the behavior of the man since he entered the stadium.
Who was Pablo Serrano?
Pablo Marcelo Serrano, known as “Carucha”, was a 53-year-old man from the town of Morón, in western Buenos Aires. He was a member of the club and was part of the group “Los Pibes del 20”, based in the Buenos Aires city of Morón. Usually, he attended the field with his teammates from the subsidiary.
Serrano signed up as a full member of River Plate in November 2022, but his fanaticism with the club was prior to this fact. On his Facebook page, he shared photos about his days with the Morón affiliate in the previews of the matches. He also published images with idols of the Millionaire, such as Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Chacho Coudet and Carlos Sánchez.
From the Morón subsidiary, a message was published about what happened: “Today misfortune touched us very closely. We want to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Pablo Serrano. River fan, partner and friend. We want to send a big hug and show solidarity with all the friends of your group @ lospibesdel20 from Morón”.
River’s statement: “He jumped into the void”
Although at first it was speculated that the supporter lost his balance, a few hours after the suspension and in a joint statement, River Plate and the Football Safety Committee stated that the deceased “jumped into the void” from the Sívori tribune. In addition, it was reported that the tribune would be closed for 24 hours.
Around 6:30 p.m., the Núñez institution released the following statement: “The Football Safety Committee and Club Atlético River Plate regret to inform that, in this afternoon’s match against Defense and Justice, a supporter jumped into the void from the Sívori Alta tribune and died on the spot. The medical service immediately arrived at the area of the incident, as did the police and various security agencies. The Sivori Alta grandstand, where the deceased person had his subscription, was at 90% of its capacity. At the time of the fall there was no intervention by third parties. It was also found that there was no violent situation in the stands or around him. After 30 minutes, the Stadium was completely evacuated. Security agencies and the Specialized Fiscal Unit for Massive Events, headed by Dr. Celsa Ramírez, are acting and carrying out the pertinent investigations. By instruction of the prosecutor, the gallery was closed for 24 hours to obtain evidence“.
The reaction of family and friends
Mía Serrano, the victim’s daughter, turned to social networks to dedicate a message to her father. “You left me forever daddy, lpeople make things up about you and think they have the right to comment when they don’t know anything“, he wrote on his Twitter account, referring to the publications on which rumors about Serrano spread.
And I add: “They want to make it look like something that it is not, all your family and friends know the kind of person you were. I will always be your princess, daddy. I love you”.
Added to this, on her Instagram profile she shared a photo where she is seen as a child with her father. “Thank you for being the best dad in the world, I’m going to miss you every day of my life daddy. Your princess is going to remember you all the time and I know that you are going to take great care of me as you did here in life. You taught me to love these colors and I promise to remember you every time I go to the courtour place in the world“, reads the message that accompanies the image.
Mía shared the same passion for soccer as her father on her social networks. The young woman, who was present at the Monument when her father fell into the void, was accompanied until the last minute by the president of the club, Jorge Pablo Brito.
For his part, Agustín, the victim’s nephew, posted a photo on his Twitter account with a dedication to his uncle. “I love you with my soul uncle, heaven has one more angel. RIP,” the young man wrote.
El Monumental, a stadium with a sad record of tragedies
The death of Pablo Serrano is not an isolated event, but rather joins a long list of deaths on the millionaire court. The greatest tragedy that is remembered is that of “Gate 12”, with 71 victims. Currently, the Monumental accumulates 85 deaths in its stands.
The first official event occurred in July 1944 when eight people died in the facilities of the Núñez club after a classic River-San Lorenzo, due to polytraumatisms caused by a fight between fans, where everyone went unpunished.
One of the most violent episodes occurred in “The Battle of the Quinchos” (February 2007), where two factions of “Los Borrachos del Tablón” clashed. this meeting culminated in the murder of Gonzalo Acro in August 2007, in the heart of the Belgrano neighborhood.
The cruelest tragedy was that of “La Puerta 12”, which occurred in the winter of 1968 during the Superclásico. In the then Antonio V. Liberti Stadium, and on the stairs of Gate 12 of the stadium (current gate L), hundreds of Boca fans were crowded together, trying to survive a devastating avalanche. Someone had locked the doors, so the fans couldn’t escape. The event ended with a balance of 71 dead and 113 wounded.
According to the information and judicial experts of the time there were several irregularities. Among them, they announced that the stadium employees did not open the sliding door in its entirety and the turnstiles remained on throughout the game instead of being removed after the entry of the visiting party. This situation caused an avalanche that caused many fans to fall, hit themselves or run out of breath.
The last precedent, before the Serrano case this Saturday afternoon, was in May 2013. On that occasion, a fan identified as Damián Torres, 29, who died after falling down the hole that exists between the San Martín and Sívori stands, while trying to locate a flag.
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