Three days of mourning have been declared in Ivory Coast following a New Year’s Eve stampede that killed at least 61 people in Abidjan.

Hundreds of people leaving a fireworks event at a stadium in the Plateau district were jammed into a tiny street in the early hours of Tuesday: many were crushed; others suffocated.

President Alassane Ouattara described the deaths as a “National Tragedy”.

There are reports that a group of youths brandishing knives were snatching people’s mobile phones, other reports say security forces acted ineptly as they tried to control the many thousands walking through the City Centre – triggering the stampede.