LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Nine people were crushed to death and seven injured Friday morning after a tear gas attack in a Lima discotheque packed with teen-agers celebrating Christmas Eve.

More than 200 people in the Suarez discotheque in the Lima shantytown of Santa Anita fought to leave the second-story club down its one, narrow staircase, crushing people underfoot, police spokesman Omar Chinchay said.

The club's one door on the building's main floor had been locked by the owners, forcing people to push their way out in a crushing stampede, Chinchay said.

The canister was thrown into the discotheque from the street through a window early Christmas morning, police said. The victims ranged from 13 to 21 years of age, and all died of asphyxiation.

"There was no space to leave the discotheque. The staircase was narrow and the teen-agers were desperate to leave. It was almost a jail," said Elcides Espejo, the father of a victim who had rushed to the scene.

Police have not determined who threw the bomb, but witnesses told local radio station Radioprogramas that they were members of a youth gang.

Outside the discotheque, gang members fought police briefly before being dispersed. The discotheque is a regular site of gang clashes, neighbors said.

Most of the victims were poor teen-agers from Santa Anita, a shantytown on Lima's eastern outskirts.