Image
Guinea mourns casualties stampede
N’ZÉRÉKORÉ, Guinea -- The grand final of the national tournament for revitalization at the regional stadium of N'Zérékoré, resulted in a catastrophe.
On December 1st the footballmatch between the teams of N'Zérékoré and Labé was held under the patronage of the trophy of General Mamady Doumbouya (President of the Republic). Several national and regional officials amongst whom the Minister of Youth and Sports, Tiamou Bogola Haba, along with Félix Lamah, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock.
The final began in an enthusiastic atmosphere, in front of more than 30,000 spectators, and was proceeding smoothly until the 68th minute. At that moment, the central referee mistakenly issued a red card to a Labé player, then corrected his decision by giving him a yellow card instead. This decision led to protests from the Labé players, who left the field in protest. After the intervention of the present authorities, the match was able to resume.
However, in the 83rd minute, the referee awarded a penalty to N'Zérékoré following a foul committed in the Labé box. This decision again provoked dissatisfaction among the Labé players, who refused to return to the field.
Some Labé supporters present in the stadium began throwing stones onto the pitch, prompting a reaction from the N'Zérékoré supporters, who also started throwing stones. Despite the intervention of security forces and the use of tear gas, total chaos erupted, with scuffles resulting in several casualties, including 56 deaths and multiple people injured.
Guinea has entered three days of national mourning to honour the victims of the stampede that resulted in 56 deaths. The search for casualties still continues.