A stampede left eight dead and around fifty injured Monday evening January 24 in front of a stadium in Yaoundé, before an African Cup of Nations match between Cameroon and the Comoros, according to the authorities.
“Eight deaths are recorded”, including that of a child, said the ministry in a report obtained by AFP. A first report provided earlier by Cameroonian public television reported “half a dozen dead and dozens injured”.
According to the Ministry of Health, the stampede occurred at the southern entrance to the Olembé stadium in Yaoundé. The victims were “immediately transported” in ambulances but “heavy road traffic slowed the transport”, according to the report.
A trampled infant
A baby was also trampled by the crowd, still outside the stadium, when the health pass was checked, according to the Ministry of Health. The infant, “immediately extirpated and taken to the general hospital of Yaoundé” is in a “medically stable” condition, the ministry said.
According to health authorities, around fifty people were injured, including two people with polytraumatism and two others suffering from head trauma. CAF, which organizes the continent’s flagship competition, dispatched its secretary general “to the bedside of the victims admitted to hospitals in Yaoundé”, according to a press release.
“CAF is currently investigating the situation in order to obtain more details on these incidents,” continued the Confederation. This tragedy took place before the round of 16 game of the Africa Cup of Nations, in which Cameroon beat Comoros 2-1.
80% gauge
A few minutes after the final whistle of the match, there was no trace of the stampede around the stadium, noted an AFP journalist. The African Football Confederation (CAF) will hold a “crisis meeting” with the CAN organizing committee on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m. GMT), dedicated exclusively to security issues in stadiums. AFP a source close to CAF.
The Olembé stadium, with a capacity of 60,000 seats, was specially built for the CAN. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a 60% stadium filling gauge had been introduced, increased to 80% when the Indomitable Lions, players of the Cameroon national team, play.
Similar tragedies
Before this accident, similar tragedies have bereaved the world of football in Africa in recent years. Thereby, on July 15, 2017, eight people were killed and hundreds injured in a crowd movement at the Demba Diop stadium in Dakar, after clashes between supporters during the final of the League Cup.
On April 11, 2001, 43 people died when thousands of ticketless fans forced their way into Ellis Park stadium, already packed, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The same year, on May 10, 2001, 126 people died in Accra, Ghana during clashes between supporters. The police had fired tear gas and the spectators, wanting to flee, had found the gates of the stadium closed.
The most dramatic assessment for this type of tragedy in the world had been recorded at the Nacional stadium in Lima in May 1964, when a disallowed goal in the qualifying match for the Olympic Games between Peru and Argentina caused a general fight and a crowd in the stands, leaving 320 dead and a thousand injured.
It is also the second serious accident in Cameroon in less than a week. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, an accidental fire caused by fireworks had killed at least 16 people in a nightclub in an upscale district of Yaoundé.
