At least eight people were killed and 38 more injured in a crowd outside an AFCON football match in Cameroon.
Videos showed throngs of shouting football fans getting crushed at the Paul Biya stadium’s entrance gates in Yaounde, the capital.
Witnesses recounted chaotic scenes outside the stadium as tens of thousands of fans fought for entry.
A 14-year-old child was killed, and seven others were critically wounded.
President Paul Biya of Cameroon has requested an inquiry into the accident and expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the relatives of the dead.
The African Football Confederation has also initiated an inquiry.
The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 people, but due to Covid limitations, it was not expected to be more than 80% full for Monday’s game.
Approximately 50,000 people attempted to attend the match, according to authorities.
Nick Cavell, a BBC Africa producer who was there at the event, claims that knowledge of the crush did not reach the crowd until it was reported on social media.
He added there were discarded shoes and other rubbish scattered around the stadium’s entrance.
As supporters clamoured to enter the stadium, Danish journalist Buster Emil Kirchner reported “a lot of pandemonium” near the stadium’s gates.
“It was chaotic – people running, people scaling fences, people bursting through the barriers,” he told the BBC, adding that he had witnessed many individuals without tickets attempting to “push their way in.”
Another journalist, Leocadia Bongben, saw activity emanating from one of the stadium’s supporter zones.
She told the BBC’s Newsday show, “People began yelling.” “A minute later, an ambulance arrived at the stadium, but when we arrived, the police refused to let us go near to the stampede.”
“It’s a tragic scenario when people go to watch a game and die there.”
Nurse Olinga Prudence told the Associated Press that several of the victims were in “critical condition.”
Despite the event, Cameroon and Comoros played in the last 16 match, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for the hosts.
