No fewer than eight people have died and 49 people also sustained different degrees of injuries after a wall collapsed at a football stadium in Senegal.
The incident happened at Demba Diop stadium in the capital, Dakar, at the end of the League Cup final between Stade de Mbour and Union Sportive Ouakam.
With the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, Mbour took a goal in the first period of extra time to win 2-1 before violence broke out at the final whistle. Fans threw projectiles including stones at others.
Cheikh Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people out of the stadium, said “All of a sudden when the wall fell… we knew exactly that some of our own had lost their lives because the wall fell directly on people.”
A spokesman for President Macky Sall said campaigning for upcoming elections would be suspended on Sunday as a mark of respect and there should be “punishments serving as a warning”.
There are also suggestions regarding the stadium was in a poor state of repair.
The country has suspended all sporting and cultural events for the rest of the month.
