At Least 50 Killed in Stadium Stampede

A stampede at a packed soccer match between two of Ghana’s leading teams killed at least 50 people Wednesday night, government officials said--Africa’s fourth soccer disaster in a month.

Ambulances raced through the streets of this seaside capital in western Africa more than an hour after the stampede, and radio stations were broadcasting appeals for all doctors to report to work to help treat the injured. There were fears the death toll could exceed 100.

“It is a great national tragedy,” said Minister of Presidential Affairs Jake Obetsebi-Amptey, who visited military hospital No. 37 in Accra where many of the victims were taken. “Many people have died, and many more are wounded and are bleeding.”

Asamoah Boateng, a member of the presidency’s chief of staff office who was also at the hospital, said, “Where I am standing right now there are at least 50 to 60 bodies.”

The tragedy at Accra Stadium, the city’s main sports field, occurred during a match between the Accra Hearts of Oak, the hometown team, and a team called Asante Kotoko. Accra was leading 2 to 1 with five minutes left when Asante supporters began throwing bottles and chairs onto the field, witnesses said. Asante is from the central city of Kumasi.

Police responded by firing tear gas, creating panic in the stands as spectators rushed to escape the fumes, witnesses said.

At the hospital, relatives frantically searched for loved ones. Obetsebi-Amptey urged them to go home, saying they were crowding the hospital and creating problems.

“What is important now is to remain calm. . . . It is a night for us to mourn and not a night to worsen an already bad situation with anger and impatience,” he said.

This was the fourth soccer disaster in Africa in the last month. Forty-three people were killed in a stampede April 11 at a stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Another stampede April 29 killed eight people in Lubumbashi, Congo. And on May 6, fighting broke out among fans at a soccer match in Ivory Coast, killing one person and injuring 39.