31 March 2009

Abidjan - Fans who survived a deadly stadium stampede in the Ivory Coast blamed police on Monday for the tragedy, saying security forces provoked the panic by throwing teargas at people who had nowhere to run.

World soccer body Fifa called for a prompt investigation into the stampede Sunday at Abidjan's Felix Houphouet-Boigny arena, which killed 19 people and injured over 130.

Tens of thousands of fans turned out to see Chelsea striker Didier Drogba - a native of Ivory Coast - as the home team squared off against Malawi at a World Cup qualifying match.

Interior Minister Desire Tagro said on state TV that fans outside the stadium before the game began pushing and shoving, setting off the panic. But witnesses said as fans tried to get into the stadium, police fired teargas into the crowd, setting off the stampede.

The weight of the fans pushing forward caused a wall to come crashing down, according to an AP photographer and other witnesses. An Abidjan morgue listed 19 dead, and Tagro gave the number of injured as 132.

"We saw people falling from the top bleachers," said Diarassouba Adama, who was inside the stadium. "The stampede was provoked by the security forces who threw teargas canisters at us. I don't know why they fired on us."

Relatives of the dead outside one of the capital's morgues agreed.

"My brother left to go to the stadium with his friends. At the entrance, they were attacked by security forces. That's what set off the stampede," Momodou Kamara said after identifying the body of his brother.

Women fainted with grief outside the morgue Monday and others sobbed as they held each other. Fathers and brothers stood, their eyes red with sorrow.

Morgue officials released the names of the 19 dead - including two children, the youngest of whom was listed as age 10. There was no immediate word Monday on the condition of the injured.

State TV announced that Prime Minister Guillaume Soro was holding an emergency cabinet meeting Monday to deal with the national tragedy.

The game took place on Sunday despite the deaths and Ivory Coast won 5-0. It was the first match in the final stage of African qualifying for the 2010 World Cup being played in South Africa.

In Zurich, Fifa President Joseph Blatter offered his condolences and also demanded a full investigation.

"I wish to express extreme sorrow and extend our condolences to the Ivorian football community and, most importantly, to family, friends and loved ones following the tragic deaths in Abidjan," Blatter said in a statement.

Stadium accidents are far too common in Africa, where soccer is intimately entwined with national pride.

If teargas was to blame, it would be the fourth time since 2001 that police firing teargas have set off deadly stadium stampedes in Africa.

In 2000, 13 fans died at a match in Zimbabwe after police fired teargas into the 50,000-strong crowd. A year later, at least 123 people died in Accra, Ghana, after security forces fired teargas into the stands in response to fans who threw bottles and chairs.

Another seven people were crushed to death in a 2001 stadium stampede in Lubumbashi, Congo, after police fired teargas.

In South Africa, the organiser of the next World Cup pledged Monday that there will be no stadium stampedes during the continent's first World Cup in 2010.

Danny Jordaan told reporters that many African fans buy their tickets only when they reach the stadium, creating an impatient crowd outside that can lead to stampedes. But he said World Cup match tickets will have to be purchased well in advance and those without tickets will be stopped far away from the stadiums.

The worst stadium disaster in Africa was the Ghana stampede in 2001. The deadliest stadium disaster worldwide took place in Moscow in 1982, when 340 people were reportedly killed in fan stampede at a European Cup match.