Six people have died and at least 40 people have been seriously injured after a stampede accord outside the Olembe Stadium in Cameroon prior to a knockout round in the Africa Cup of Nations.
The president of the Confederation of African Football (AFCON), Patrice Motsepe, said the deadly crush outside the stadium was caused by an access gate being closed for “inexplicable reasons”.
Motsepe has called for an immediate investigation into the disaster which saw a number of six killed ahead of Cameroon’s last-16 tie with Comoros on Monday night.
Olembe Stadium between Cameroon and Comoros, in Yaounde, Cameroon
MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY
Reports say fans were involved in a crush as they attempted to make their way into the 60,000-capacity Paul Biya Stadium in Olembe outside the Cameroon capital of Yaounde.
Motsepe pointed to an error with access in and around the stadium as the reason behind the incident.
“Some of the people came just to be part of the atmosphere,” he told a press conference. “Including those who didn’t have tickets, so I think we do accept that thousands of people more than what was expected did arrive.
“Having said that, we will have very tough and very hard discussions behind closed doors and I’m confident because of the discussions I had this morning.
“What happened yesterday in terms of the proximity of people being allowed to the stadium in a manner that is not properly coordinated and governed will never happen again.
“I went to see where the people lost their lives and you see it’s a gate. That gate was supposed to be open. Because if it was open, they would have walked through and it was closed for inexplicable reasons.
“If that gate was open as it was supposed to, we wouldn’t have had this problem we have now, this loss of life.
“So of course, as part of the hearing, we want to know who closed that gate, who was responsible for that gate.
“I know that legally the LOC (local organising committee) is responsible for the safety and security but we are their partners and we have to make sure that the safety of every single spectator is our primary concern.
“There must be a committee that’s set up to immediately investigate what happened and in that context to find out who was supposed to do what and who did not do and perform their responsibilities. We want that report by Friday.”
Motsepe confirmed Sunday’s scheduled quarter-final at the Olembe stadium has now been moved to the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the Cameroon capital.
It remains to be seen if the Paul Biya Stadium will host one of the semi-finals as well as the final on February 6, as previously planned.
Motsepe did, however, say he remains happy with the safety measures that were in place ahead of the game.