Inquiry into stadium tragedy

AN inquiry has been opened into Sunday’s tragedy at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium which left 19 dead and 132 injured.

The incident occurred when a wall collapsed at the stadium in Abidjan shortly before Ivory Coast beat Malawi 5-0 in a World Cup qualifying match.

President Laurent Gbagbo called for an immediate inquiry and three days of national mourning which will start today.

“The causes of this tragedy deserve to be known to avoid such an event ever happening again,” said Gbagbo.

A first emergency meeting on Monday, presided over by prime minister Guillaume Soro, saw the creation of a crisis unit to deal with the tragedy while an extraordinary council of ministers has been called for today.

The tragedy was caused by overcrowding at the 35,000-capacity stadium, with up to 50,000 people in and around the ground, while there are reports that the panic was enhanced by the police using tear gas.

Ivory Coast captain and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba expressed his deep sadness.

“Football is nothing, you are talking about the death of 19 people, and that is hard to take,” the Chelsea striker said.

FIFA have called for a minute’s silence to be held at all of tomorrow’s matches.