Topic: Kenya:7 Dead in soccer match stampede.

Seven dead in Kenya football stampede

Football fans at a past match. Seven people are feared dead after a stampede at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday.

By WALTER MENYA
Posted Saturday, October 23 2010 at 20:26


The highy-billed Premier League clash between perennial rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards turned tragic after seven fans died following a stampede at Nyayo Stadium Saturday.

Football Kenya official Frank Okoth said the stampede was caused by fans, who did not have match tickets but attempted to force their way into the stadium.

“This game has surprised everybody,” said Okoth at half-time when he spoke on pay TV Supersport that was televising the match.

“There were so many fans outside who attempted to force their way into the stadium but they did not have match tickets.”

According to the FKL official, the rowdy fans then brought down a gate.

“In the process, some fell down and they were trampled upon by other fans,” he said.

“We have heard that six people have died but we leave to the medical people to confirm.”

Police, however, put the number of dead at seven, shortly after the Premier League clash started at around 7.10 p.m.

Witnesses blamed the FKL and Kenya Premier League for poor organisation leading to many fans being locked out.

One fan told the Nation that there was no football official nether were the police on sight to control the surging crowds.

The fan said people were trampled upon by fans who wanted to get into the stadium.

“There were no ambulances nor any assistance. Nothing,” the angry fan who witnessed the incident said.

Instead, it was the members of the public, who attempted to assist the injured to hospital. Many of those injured were said to have suffered broken limbs and ribs.

Inside the stadium, the match went on albeit with an interruption when a fan strayed into the pitch as a Gor Mahia player was preparing to take a corner kick. The fan was roughed up as he was led off the field of play.

The match was stopped for about 15 minutes as the referee consulted with the linesman and the fourth official.

Daily Nation:*- Football*|Seven dead in Kenya football stampede

Seven people have been killed in a stampede at a football stadium in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, officials say.

The crush happened as a crowd tried to enter Nyayo National Stadium to watch a match between two of Kenya's most popular teams.

Six people died at the stadium while another person died later in hospital, a Kenyan Red Cross official said.

Reports from Kenya say the Premier League match between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards continued despite the deaths.

A stampede at the same stadium in 2005 killed one fan, leading Fifa to ban its use in the World Cup qualifiers

My friend in her Facebook wall posted the following message, "OH MY GOD....Hope all my freinds who went to nyanyo stadium hope ua alll oke......am scared coz ua fones are off............7 poeple have been reported dead…"

Poleni watani zetu and R.I.P all 7 fans who lost their lives today...

Kenya is moer peaceful than tanzania, please tell me this was in arusha mwalimu

ondoa teana... kenya is more peaceful than tanzania... nina maana yangu

nduio maana hakuna maana ya mods kuanzisha threads

Seven football fans, including a young woman, died on Saturday night when a stampede broke out at a highly-charged Kenyan Premier League football match between Gor Mahia and arch-rivals AFC Leopards at the Nyayo National Stadium.
The head of the Kenyan Premier League medical department, Dr Andrew Suleh, said the young woman died as he and other medical personnel waited for ambulances to gain entry into the packed stadium to take her to hospital.

And police on Saturday night put the figure of casualties at seven from the stampede shortly after the match kicked off at 7pm.

At the Kenyatta National Hospital, Dr Suleh said the young woman, in her early 20s, died as they tried to resuscitate her.

“There were very many people at the stadium and when it started raining, they were struggling to get into the VIP centre stand, causing the stampede,” Dr Suleh said.

“The main gate was packed with people and it was impossible for the ambulances to get through.”

Dr Suleh recounted the woman dying as his team tried to resuscitate her at the match which was broadcast live throughout the continent.

“Her last words were ‘can’t you people do something’, words she uttered shortly before she passed off. On Saturday night, more than 20 fans were in critical condition in what goes down as Kenya’s worst sporting disaster.

As disaster struck, most of the fans inside the stadium were not aware of what was going on, although the match was held up for about 15 minutes as fans spilled onto the pitch.

“The emergency gate remained closed which is quite unfortunate as it is supposed to be opened,” Dr Suleh said. “The young lady died because the ambulance could not get to her.”

“This game has surprised everybody,” Kenyan Premier League official Frank Okoth said at half-time in an interview on pay television channel Supersport that was televising the match from the stadium.

“There were so many fans outside who attempted to force their way into the stadium but they did not have match tickets.”

Witnesses blamed Football Kenya Limited and the Kenya Premier League for poor organisation leading to many fans being locked out.

One fan, Ken Mugonyi, told the Sunday Nation that there was no football official and neither were the police on sight to control the surging crowds.

The fan said people were trampled upon by fans who wanted to get into the stadium. “There were neither ambulances nor assistance. Absolutely nothing,” an angry fan who witnessed the incident said.

Instead, it was the members of the public who attempted to assist the injured to hospital. Many of those injured were said to have sustained broken limbs and ribs.

Inside the stadium, the match went on albeit with an interruption when a fan strayed onto the pitch as a Gor Mahia player was preparing to take a corner kick. The fan was roughed up as he was led off the field of play.

The match was stopped for about 15 minutes as the match referee consulted with the linesmen and the fourth official.

Gor Mahia won the match 1-0 through a late penalty scored by Collins Okoth. A fortnight ago, at the Kenya vs Uganda Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, surging crowds broke the gate to the VIP section of the Nyayo National Stadium but no injuries were reported.

In 2005, a fan died in another Africa Cup of Nations-cum-2006 World Cup qualifying match between Kenya and Morocco, prompting world football governing body, Fifa, to order the stadium capacity at Nyayo reduced to 26,000 from its 30,000 capacity.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga (centre) consoles Jackson Ouma Oduor, one of the fans injured during the stampede at Nairobi's Nyayo stadium on Saturday evening.




A Kenyan police investigator walks past the spot where seven people were killed and scores others injured at the Nyayo National stadium in Nairobi on Ocotber 24, 2010. Seven Kenyan football fans were killed yesterday when crowds jostled to enter a stadium where historical rival teams, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, clashed in a premier league fixture.

Poleni wafiwa.
Waliofariki wapumnzike kwa amani.