CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Fifty-six people died and several were injured in a stampede at a football stadium in southern Guinea after clashes between fans, the country’s government said on Monday.
The authorities were investigating to determine who was responsible for the stampede on Sunday, indicated the Minister of Communications, Fana Soumah, in a statement read on national television.
Local media and a coalition of political parties had previously reported that dozens of people, including children, had died in the stampede and in the intervention of security forces to quell the clashes at a packed stadium in the largest city in the region.
How did the tragedy in Guinea happen?
The stampede occurred on Sunday afternoon in the city of Nzerekore during the final of a local tournament between the teams of Labe and Nzerekore in honor of Guinea's military leader, Mamadi Doumbouya, said Guinea's Prime Minister, Amadou Oury Bah, on platform X.
The regional authorities were working to restore calm in the area, he added.
A coalition of political parties known as the National Alliance for Change and Democracy said in a statement that the stampede caused dozens of deaths and injuries.
Local media reported that security forces attempted to use tear gas to restore calm after the chaos that followed a disputed penalty.
"This (the disputed penalty) enraged the fans, who threw stones. This is how the security services used tear gas," reported the local media Media Guinea. It said that several of the dead were children, and some of the injured treated at a regional hospital were in critical condition."
Videos that seemed to have been recorded on site showed a section of the stadium shouting and protesting the refereeing before the clashes erupted as fans rushed onto the field.
People were running as they tried to escape from the stadium, with many of them jumping over the high fence. The videos also showed many people lying on the ground in what appeared to be a hospital, while a crowd gathered nearby, with some assisting the injured.
What is the political situation in Guinea?
The National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy coalition called for an investigation. They said that the tournament was organized to promote support for the military leader's "illegal and inappropriate" political aspirations.
Guinea has been ruled by the military since soldiers overthrew President Alpha Conde in 2021. It is one of the growing number of countries in West Africa, such as Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed the return to civilian government.
Doumbouya took power three years ago arguing that he was preventing the country from sinking into chaos and criticized the previous government for unfulfilled promises. However, he has been criticized for not meeting the expectations he himself generated.