ZCZC
BFF-16
MADAGASCAR-ACCIDENT
16 dead in crush at Madagascar independence day rally
ANTANANARIVO, June 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least 16 people were crushed to
death and dozens injured in Madagascar on Wednesday at a stadium hosting
national independence day celebrations in the capital Antananarivo.
The bodies of sixteen victims, including three children, were stored at the
mortuary of HJRA hospital in the city, AFP journalists said.
According to witnesses at the hospital, the accident occurred in the
afternoon outside the Mahamasina stadium, where several thousand people had
gathered for a concert following the traditional military parade held to mark
the national holiday.
At the end of a military parade, security forces opened the gates to allow
spectators to leave the enclosure, causing the crowd to mass outside the
stadium, witnesses said.
The police then immediately closed the gates and blocked the crowd,
witnesses said, causing a deadly pile up.
“When the organizers opened the gate, we were in the front row, in the
queue,” said Jean Claude Etienne Rakotoarimanana, 29, who suffered bruises
from the crush.
“Suddenly people ran to get in front of us. They shoved us, some even
punched us and pulled us,” he added, saying he then fainted.
Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina, at a press conference with Rwandan
counterpart Paul Kagame, offered his condolences over the tragic deaths.
“There were too many people unable to enter the stadium,” which led to the
problem, he said, adding that the state would take care of the hospital bills
of those injured.
Rajoelina visited the hospital taking care of those injured in the stadium
crush.
In September 2018, a deadly crush killed one person and injured 30 people
in similar circumstances at the entrance of the same stadium during a
football match between Madagascar and Senegal.
On June 26, 2016, exactly three years before Wednesday’s deadly crush, a
bomb was detonated during a free concert in the Mahamasina stadium, killing
three people and leaving scores more injured.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1055 hrs