Seven Kenyan football fans were killed on Saturday when crowds jostled to enter a stadium in the capital Nairobi where rival teams clashed in a premier league fixture, police and Red Cross officials said.
Crowds were pushing their way to get into Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium where two separate gates were open for the rival supporters on a rainy Saturday evening, trampling on the victims.
“Our emergency rescue teams are on the ground and they have been able to confirm the deaths of six people whose bodies have been found outside the stadium. They are five male and a female,” said Titus Mung’ou, the Kenya Red Cross spokesperson.
“We are also confirming that another person has succumbed to injuries at the Kenyatta National Hospital,” he added.
The match between perennial rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards ended in a one-goal defeat for the Leopards.
In 2005, at least one person was trampled to death during a World Cup qualifier between Kenya and Morocco at the 35 000-capacity Nyayo National Stadium, leading to a two-year Fifa ban.
The stadium was eventually limited to 25 000 people. – AFP