Children, Others Die In Stampede After Angolan Football Match

Two children and three adults were killed in a stampede at a weekend football match in the Angolan capital Luanda, sparking an investigation, authorities said Monday.

The crush occurred Saturday as fans were leaving the CAF Champions League quarter-final match between Primeiro Agosto of Angola and TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the sports ministry said.

The incident “caused the death by asphyxiation of five supporters and caused seven injuries at the end of the match,” the ministry said in a statement.

The two children were aged 10 and 12, it said.

One survivor who gave his name only as Nemo, speaking to TV channel Zimbo from his hospital bed, said: “The exit door was very small, many people fell.”

The history of African football is marked by frequent deadly crowd stampedes. In Angola in February 2017, 17 people were killed and 58 injured near the northern town of Uige ahead of a season-opening match for the national championship.

Earlier this month, at least one person was killed and 37 injured in a stampede ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo.

And in July last year, eight people were killed when rival supporters clashed during Senegal’s League Cup final, and a stampede caused a wall to fall on escaping fans.

The scramble came after police used tear gas to clear the area surrounding the stadium.

In 2009, 19 people died in the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan after a crush in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup between Ivory Coast and Malawi.

AFP