Published on:
Paris (AFP)- The crash that killed eight people and injured dozens ahead of Monday’s Africa Cup of Nations last 16 game between Cameroon and Comoros in Yaoundé is the latest in a long line of tragedies in football stadiums.
AFP Sport highlights some of the worst:
Peru
May 23, 1964
– 320 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a stampede during a Peru-Argentina Olympic qualifying match at the National Stadium in Lima. Fans couldn’t escape the crush and were either trampled on or suffocated.
RUSSIA
October 20, 1982
– Mystery still surrounds the total number of people who died at the end of a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and Dutch side Haarlem at the Luzniki Stadium following a crash in a stairwell. Officially, it remains at 66 – including 45 teenagers – but according to the daily Sovietski sport, the figures are much higher at 340.
GHANA
May 10, 2001
– 126 people died in Accra at the end of a match between Hearts of Oaks and Kumasi, when Kumasi fans, angered by their team’s defeat, threw objects and smashed chairs. The police threw tear gas canisters, triggering a stampede.
ENGLAND
April 15, 1989
– A crush in the stands of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium has killed 97 Liverpool fans in an FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest.
– May 11, 1985 – 56 people were killed when a fire broke out in wooden stands during a game between Bradford and Lincoln City.
GUATEMALA
October 16, 1996
– About 80 spectators lost their lives after being crushed by fans who piled into a stand at the Mateo Flores National Stadium for the 1998 World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica.
SCOTLAND
January 2, 1971
– 66 people were killed in a crush at Ibrox Stadium during a Rangers-Celtic derby. It was the stadium’s second disaster, after a stand collapsed in 1902, killing 26 people.
EGYPT
February 1, 2012
– The Port Said stadium tragedy in Egypt, where 74 people died after clashes between rival groups of supporters of local club Al-Masry and Cairo-based Al-Ahly.
– February 17, 1974 – 48 people die and 47 are injured when 80,000 crowd into a 40,000 capacity stadium.
SOUTH AFRICA
April 11, 2001
– 43 people died in a stampede at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg during a match between the Orlando Pirates and the Kaizer Chiefs.
– January 13, 1991 – 40 dead in a scrum in an Orlando Pirates-Kaizer Chiefs match.
BELGIUM
May 29, 1985
– 39 killed at Heysel Stadium in Brussels when Juventus fans tried to run away from Liverpool fans.
FRANCE
May 5, 1992
– 18 people were killed and more than 2,300 injured when a terrace at the Furiani stadium in Corsica collapsed.
© 2022 AFP
