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At least eight people have been killed and 38 injured in a stampede ahead of an African Cup of Nations championship match in Cameroon.
Videos shared on social media showed fans screaming as they pressed on the entrance to Paul Biya Stadium in the capital Yaoundé.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes outside the stadium as thousands of fans failed to enter.
Two little boys aged eight and 14 were among the dead, while seven people are seriously injured.
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered an investigation into the “tragic” incident.
Officials said about 50,000 people had attempted to enter the stadium.
The latter has a capacity of 60,000 seats but must only be filled to a capacity of 80% of health constraints.
Nick Cavell, the BBC producer for the ‘Africa Sport’ column, was at the match and said he did not understand anything about the tragedy until the news started appearing on social media.
The published images showed fans crossing the fences and crossing the checkpoints in the crowd, stepping on other people lying on the ground.
Several others are seen helping the injured fans.
Danish Buster journalist Emil Kirchner described seeing “a lot of chaos” as a large crowd of fans attempted to enter only through a crossing point.
“It was uncontrollable – people were running over fences, breaking barricades,” he told the BBC.
Another journalist, Leocadia Bongben, said the riots came from one of the entrance areas, outside the stadium.
“People were screaming,” she told BBC’s Newsday. “A minute later the ambulance came to the stadium but when we got there, the police did not allow us to go to the place where the tragedy happened.”
“It is a very sad situation, people go to watch a sports match but end up dead there.”
“Some of the injured are in a state of ‘despair,'” Dr. Olinga Prudence told the Associated Press.
Cameroon is one of the countries with the most football fans in Africa and is hosting the Africa Cup of Nations 50 years after it last hosted it.
Six people are reported to have been killed and dozens injured in a crush outside a stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon.
Video footage showed football fans struggling to get access to the Paul Biya stadium in a neighborhood of the capital Yaounde. pic.twitter.com/a6WLbFZORj
– Charles Ayitey (@CharlesAyitey_) January 24, 2022
So large crowds have flooded the stadiums.
Fans also need a negative Covid test to enter stadiums which has delayed things considerably, but this is not believed to have helped in death from oppression.
But the problem is that about 30 minutes after the match had started, only one entry point, the south one was open.
There was also the constriction of the narrow area that oppression by the large mass of people surrounding it.
Witnesses told of fans showing off their tickets by holding them up, out of frustration with the slow process, but further raising their hands in the air to ask for help.
Vanessa Tchouanzi told Reuters she saw one of her friends fall from the blow and die crushed by crowds of people.
The world football organization Fifa said that “our thoughts and prayers are with the affected and the football community”.
Paul Biya Stadium, the largest in Cameroon opened last year. Three more matches are expected to be played there, including the final of the competition.
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