Fifty-six people were killed and several other injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in southern Guinea, following clashes between fans, Guinea’s government said Monday.
Authorities are conducting an investigation to determine those chargeable for the stampede on Sunday, Communications Minister Fana Soumah said in a press release read on national television.
Among the many victims are several children in line with local media and a coalition of political parties.
The stampede broke out on Sunday afternoon on the stadium in the town of Nzerekore through the final of an area tournament between the Labe and Nzerekore teams in honor of Guinea’s military leader, Mamadi Doumbouya, Guinea’s Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said on the X platform.
“Throughout the stampede, victims were recorded,” Bah said, without giving details. The regional authorities are working to revive calm in the realm, he added.
Local media reported that security forces tried to make use of tear gas to revive calm after the chaos that followed a disputed penalty.
Get day by day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“This (the disputed penalty) angered supporters who threw stones. That is how the safety services used tear gas,” Media Guinea, an area news website, reported. It said several of those killed were children while a few of the injured being treated at a regional hospital are in critical condition.
Videos that seemed to be from the scene showed fans in a bit of the stadium shouting and protesting the refereeing before clashes broke out as people poured onto the sector.
People were running as they tried to flee from the stadium, a lot of them jumping the high fence.
Videos also showed many individuals lying on the ground in what looked like a hospital as a crowd gathered nearby, some assisting the wounded.
The National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy opposition coalition called for an investigation. It said the tournament was organized to drum up support for the “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions of the military leader.
Guinea has been led by the military since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021. It’s considered one of a growing variety of West African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule.
Doumbouya, who ousted the president three years ago, said he was stopping the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken guarantees. He has, nevertheless, been criticized for not meeting the expectations that he raised.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
