At least 8 dead in wall collapse at Senegal's Demba Diop
Eight people have died and at least 49 are injured after a wall collapsed at a football stadium in Senegal.
It
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.
Fighting
started between rival fans and police responded by using tear gas,
which led to panic, a stampede, and the wall collapse.
Some fans were throwing projectiles including stones at others.
Pictures circulating online appear to show people scrambling over a low wall amid clouds of gas.
Local news agency APS reported that ambulances and firefighters were at the scene.
With the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, Mbour scored in the first period
of extra time to win 2-1, and violence broke out at the final whistle.
Cheikh
Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people
out of the stadium, told AFP news agency: "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 to people."
A spokesman for the
country's President Macky Sall said that campaigning for upcoming
elections would be suspended on Sunday as a mark of respect, and that
there should be "punishments serving as a warning".
BBC
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