XtraTime Web Desk: 31-year-old football referee collapsed during a Bolivian league match high up in the Andes and died after being taken to the hospital.
The match between the Always Ready and Oriente Petrolero clubs was played at Municipal Stadium in El Alto, which sits about 3,900 meters (12,795 feet) above sea level. The game was in the 47th minute when referee Victor Hugo Hurtado toppled backward and fell to the ground.
Footage of the moment Hurtado fell to the ground circulated around social media along with clips showing the doctors attending to him as he lay on the pitch. Players and team doctors rushed to his side and after a few minutes, Hurtado was loaded onto a stretcher before being placed in an ambulance and driven away.
Always Ready team doctor Eric Kosziner told reporters later that the referee suffered a heart attack on the field and then a second, fatal attack as he arrived at the hospital. Bolivian president Evo Morales confirmed the death of the referee and sent his condolences to the family in a tweet from his personal account.
“We regret the passing of referee Victor Hugo Hurtado,” he wrote.?
“We send our condolences and solidarity to your family, friends and colleagues. Bolivian football is in mourning.”