December 5 – Human rights groups in Guinea say they believe the death toll from the stadium crush last Sunday that killed more than 135 spectators, most of them children, is far higher than the official 56 figure announced by the military-led government.
A controversial refereeing decision sparked crowd violence in the town of Nzerekore, leading to a deadly stampede as spectators desperately tried to flee volleys of tear gas.
The Collective of Human Rights Organisations of the Nzerekore region says its higher estimate of fatalities was based on information from hospitals, cemeteries, witnesses at the stadium, families of victims, mosques, churches, and the local press.
“We now estimate 135 people died at the stadium, mostly children under the age of 18,” it said in a statement, adding that over 50 people were still missing.
The group blamed security forces for using excessive tear gas and prioritizing the protection of officials over spectators.
It also claimed vehicles carrying officials and others escaping the stadium had struck spectators as they tried to flee what it described as an overcrowded venue whose gate was being obstructed by security forces whom the collective blamed for using excessive tear gas and prioritising the protection of officials over spectators.
It held the tournament organisers responsible as well as Guinea’s ruling junta since they provided technical and financial support for the event, a cup game which was honouring military leader Mamady Doumbouya who seized power in a 2021 coup and installed himself as president.
The military-led government has warned that anyone publishing “unverified or malicious information” about the incident will face arrest.
Justice Minister Yaya Kairaba Kaba said in a video published on Facebook late on Tuesday that “disseminating unverified or malicious information on social media that is likely to disturb public order is inadmissible and exposes those responsible to sanctions.”
“I warn that anyone who engages in such behaviour will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law,” he added.
Nevertheless, the opposition alliance the Living Forces of Guinea (FVG) said in a statement that the crush had killed “around one hundred people”.
And the High Council of the Diaspora, an organisation of Guineans living abroad, also published a statement declaring “300 deaths, most of them young people and teenagers, and hundreds of injured, some seriously”.
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