Eight dead after wall collapses at Senegalese football stadium
Eight dead after wall collapses at Senegalese football stadium
- Posted by TheStadiumBusiness
- on 17th July 2017
Eight people have been killed and almost 90 injured after a wall collapsed at the Demba Diop stadium in Senegal on Saturday.
A stampede, which eventually caused the wall to fall, began after a fight kicked off between rival fans of Stade de Mbour and Union Sportive Oukam, to which the police responded by using tear gas.
Home fans reportedly threw stones and other objects at people, while many pictures show fans scrambling over a low wall engulfed in a cloud of gas.
The AFP news agency reported that sports minister Matar Ba said a young girl was among the dead.
He said “strong measures (would be implemented) so that such an event will never be repeated in Senegal,” speaking to the AFP by phone.
The country has suspended all sporting and cultural events for the remainder of July, while the president of the Senegalese league, Saer Seck, defended the security forces on duty during the incident.
ESPN reported that Seck said: “On the security side, we took all precautions initially in separating the two groups of supporters to neutralise them.
“We hired agents of the security forces in their numbers, and now there were fights and a collapse.”
“(It’s) a great sadness for all of Senegalese football,” Seck added.
“I present my condolences to the families of all of the victims that we were unable to revive. This is not my conception of football.”
Cheikh Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people out of the stadium, told AFP: “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.”
BBC Africa’s James Copnall said that the stadium itself was in need of repairs and that a government enquiry will look into the causes.
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Game wardens to deter elephants from Sri Lanka ODI stadium
Posted by TheStadiumBusiness
on 6th July 2017
While stadium operators may often consider the dangers of fans entering the field of play, officials at Hambantota Stadium in Sri Lanka are taking steps to prevent elephants from straying onto the pitch during the country’s forthcoming ODI cricket series with Zimbabwe.
Game wardens will be on hand to deter the residents of the nearby elephant sanctuary from trespassing at the 35,000-capacity stadium.
The stadium was built in 2009, in an area of Sri Lanka badly affected by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, but has hosted only a handful of matches because of its remote location and high maintenance costs.
One official told the AFP news agency that a herd of about 25 elephants roam in the area and are a potential threat to fans.
“There had been a few instances when elephants broke through the fence and invaded the pitch at night,” an official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
“A jungle patch starts about 100 metres from the stadium and we are deploying 10 wardens to make sure that fans don’t stray into that area and provoke the elephants.”
It is not the first time that wildlife has disrupted games at Hambantota, as swarms of wasps that have taken up residence there have also caused problems.
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Eight dead in Malawi football stadium stampede
Posted by TheStadiumBusiness
on 7th July 2017
Police in Malawi have confirmed that eight people have died after a stampede at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The crush, which also left dozens injured, took place before an exhibition friendly match between top Malawian sides Nyasa Big Bullets and Silver Strikers.
According to the BBC, gates to the stadium had been due to open at 6:30am local time to allow free entry of fans into the 40,000-capacity venue, but this process was delayed by approximately three hours.
However, thousands of supporters had already arrived at the stadium and some attempted to force their way. Police responded by firing tear gas at the crowds in an effort to deter people from pushing forward.
Although the exact number of those injured in the crush is still unclear, Inspector General of Police, Lexan Kachama, told the Reuters news agency that he expected the total number of causalities to increase.
Despite the incident, officials decided to go ahead with the match and the Nyasa Big Bullets went on to win 2-1 in front of a packed crowd at the stadium.
However, President Peter Mutharika, who had been due to attend the match, was not present.
Speaking in the aftermath of the tragedy, Mutharika offered his condolences to those affected and said that the Malawi government will do all it can to help the families of those who were killed or injured in the crush.
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