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FOUR SOCCER fans have been confirmed dead while many others sustained various degrees of injury during the Kotoko/ Hearts cracker played at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday.

All the dead were males, of which one was identified as Bruce Obeng, believed to be in his mid-20s and a product of the University College of Education, Winneba.

The dead bodies had since been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) morgue in Kumasi awaiting autopsy.

This latest development was reminiscent of the 2001 Stadium Disaster during which 126 lives perished as a result of the violence that characterized a football match involving these same football teams- Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. Like the 2001 match, this game also ended 2-1 in favour of Accra Hearts of Oak.

The cause of death of last Sunday’s victims was not immediately known but hospital sources suspected that suffocation might have caused the deaths due to the excessive heat at the stadium.

As at press time yesterday six persons including women, who sustained various degrees of injury, were responding to treatment at KATH.

Some of the injured were brought to the hospital with broken legs, which injury they sustained while attempting to scale tall walls to get access to the already packed-to-capacity stadium.

It would be recalled that scores of soccer fans from across the country jammed the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi in large numbers on Sunday when Hearts shocked Kotoko 2-1 on Sunday.

The crowd was so huge that soccer pundits who spoke to DAILY GUIDE described it as one of the largest to watch a football match at the stadium in recent times.

As at 12:00 noon, the 44,000-seater stadium was almost filled to the brim and this compelled the stadium authorities to close the gates to avoid overcrowding with its attendant fatalities.

But this could not prevent the over anxious soccer fans, including women, from entering the stadium as they adopted all forms of strategies to outwit the about 250 police personnel detailed to provide security at the stadium.

Some of the die-hard soccer fans were seen scaling the tall walls among other illegal means, to get access to the already packed stadium.

This development resulted in overcrowding and excessive heat at the stadium as scores of soccer fans that could not withstand the heat collapsed.

The heat at the stadium was so severe that at a point fire tenders from the Ghana National Fire Service had to spray water into the stands to save human lives.

About 100 people collapsed two hours to kick-off time, which was 3:00 pm.

The recorded cases of injury were so enormous that it overwhelmed paramedics at the stadium.

At a point soccer fans were compelled to give the paramedics a helping hand, as they were seen carrying the injured on their backs to the hospital for treatment.

In an interview with DAILY GUIDE SPORTS, the Chief Operations Officer of the National Sports Council (NSC), Charles Aryeh stated that no violent incidences were recorded before or after the match, and that the unfortunate development did not result from lapses at the gates.

“As you may be aware, the stadium was filled to capacity by 7.00am and people had to sit in the sun until 3.00pm when the match kicked off.”

According to him, the heat was unbearable and some people had to be taken to the hospital as a result.

“Fire tenders had to be called in to spray water into the stands because of the overwhelming heat. And indeed I must state that nobody died at the stadium.”

He described the deaths as unfortunate, expressing his condolences on behalf of the NSC, to the bereaved families.


Source:

Daily Guide Ghana - 4 Dead Over Hearts Kotoko Battle