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The stampede that killed eight people on Monday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, before an African Cup of Nations (CAN) match is due to the opening “reckless” of a door by the security forces “facing a human tide”, said Friday, January 28, the Cameroonian Minister of Sports, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi.
The south entrance “was temporarily closed by the police in the face of an outpouring of spectators while other doors were operational” at the great Olembé stadium in the Cameroonian capital, assured the minister to the press. Corn, “Faced with the pressure, and overwhelmed by this human tide, the security elements proceeded recklessly to open the gate of the south entrance, causing a great jostling”, which resulted in the death of eight people, including a child, he continued.
The minister also acknowledged that the number of members of the security forces was ” insufficient “. But he also blamed the holders of counterfeit and used tickets and the supporters who wanted to enter without a ticket to attend the match between Cameroon and the Comoros to justify this influx in front of the south gate.
Thirty-eight people injured
In the aftermath of the tragedy, which also left thirty-eight injured, the president of the CAN, Patrice Motsepe, announced the displacement of the quarter-final scheduled for Sunday from the Olembé stadium to the second stadium in the capital, Ahmadou Ahidjo. He also announced that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) would not allow other matches to be played there if the Cameroonian authorities did not present him with an investigation report before Friday.
Mr. Motsepe had already said on Tuesday that the deadly stampede was linked to the closing of one of the gates to the stadium. He also judged “inexplicable” this decision. “If that door had been opened the way it should have been, we wouldn’t have had the problem we have now, these loss of life. Who closed this door? Who is responsible for this door? », he had hammered in front of the press.
The sports minister assured that an investigation report, which “has not yet been made public”, was delivered Friday evening to CAF as it had demanded and he assured that the priority of the government was to reopen the Olembé stadium as soon as possible to the competition-queen of African football, on the eve of the first quarters of finals.
He outlined several measures recommended by the government to ensure that this type of tragedy can no longer occur, at the Olembé stadium as in the others: among other things, more filtering points, zig-zag access in the queues leading to gates, increasing the number of entrance gates, increasing the number of law enforcement personnel and banning children under 11 years of age.