Individuals collect exterior the HJRA hospital, in Antananarivo. Madagascar, Friday Aug.25, 2023, to seek out out state of affairs of family members after a crush at a neighborhood stadium.
| Photograph Credit score: AP
A crush at a stadium in Madagascar left not less than 12 folks lifeless and 85 injured as sports activities followers attended the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Video games, authorities stated Saturday.
Authorities spokesperson Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy stated that 33 of the injured remained within the HRJA Hospital.
The crush on Friday on the Mahamasina Stadium within the capital, Antananarivo, occurred as folks gathered at an entrance for the official opening of the regional multi-sports occasion.
Madagascar Prime Minister Christian Ntsay stated Friday that 11 folks had been in essential situation following the crush, which occurred at round 4:30 p.m. Ntsay visited victims on the hospital.
Spokesperson Rakotondrazafy didn’t give any replace on those that had been critically injured in her assertion posted on Fb.
President Andry Rajoelina was on the ceremony at Mahamasina Stadium and requested the group to watch a second of silence. The opening ceremony went forward.
The stadium, which is constructed to carry round 41,000 folks, has been the positioning of lethal crushes earlier than. One individual died and not less than 37 had been injured in a crush forward of a qualifying sport for the African Cup of Nations soccer match between Madagascar and Senegal in 2018. In 2019, not less than 15 folks died in a stampede at a music live performance on the stadium.
The Indian Ocean Island Video games is a multi-sports occasion that includes nations from the area. Athletes from Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion and Seychelles additionally compete on the video games, which had been first held in 1979.
Madagascar changed unique host the Maldives for this yr’s version, which is scheduled to run from August 25 to September 3.
