The African Cup of Nations saw its Round of 16 being played this week as Cameroon hosted the Islanders Comoros and beat them to reach the Quarter Finals.
However, the match also saw a massive crowd. A crowd too big for the stadium itself. After the end of the match, it was revealed that 8 people were actually killed under the crush after the police opened the gates as a stampede broke out. 38 other people were reportedly injured heavily as well.
“If (the gate) was open, (spectators) would have walked through and it was closed for inexplicable reasons,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe said during a press conference on Tuesday.
“If that gate was open as it was supposed to we wouldn’t have had this loss of life.”
“There is zero tolerance, absolute zero tolerance in the circumstances which could result in people being injured at a stadium or losing their lives.”
The government of Cameroon also released a statement saying, “Facing this tragedy, the seriousness of which has provoked emotion and consternation, the Head of State [Paul Biya] sends his saddest condolences to the badly hit families, as well as his wishes of a speedy recovery to the injured, to whom he sends the profound compassion of the entire nation,”
“The thoughts and prayers of the global football community are with the victims, the ones who have been injured in this incident, and all the staff of both CAF and the Cameroonian Football Association at this difficult moment.”