Football stadium collapse kills eight
A wall collapsed at a football stadium in
Senegal on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring almost 90.
It fell in after fighting began between
rival fans and police responded with tear gas, with a stampede ensuing. Stade
de Mbour were playing Union Sportive Ouakam at the Demba Diop stadium in the
capital Dakar.
The
country has suspended all sporting and cultural events for the rest of the
month.
During
the clashes, come fans threw projectiles including stones at others. Pictures
circulating online appear to show people scrambling over a low wall amid clouds
of gas.
With
the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, Mbour took a goal in the first period of extra
time to win 2-1, and violence broke out at the final whistle.
Cheikh
Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people out of
the stadium, told AFP news agency: "All of a sudden when the wall fell...
we knew exactly that some of our own had lost their lives because the wall fell
directly on to people."
A
spokesman for President Macky Sall said campaigning for upcoming elections
would be suspended on Sunday as a mark of respect, and that there should be
"punishments serving as a warning".
There
are also suggestions that the stadium itself was in a poor state of repair, BBC
Africa reporter James Copnall says.
An
enquiry announced by the government will no doubt examine all this, he adds.
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