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120 killed in Hearts of Oak stadium disaster

May 10, 2001 - African football's worst ever stadium disaster has seen at least 120 fans killed in a stampede and crush after police in Ghanaian capital Accra fired tear gas to try and end fighting between rival fans as African Champions League holders Hearts of Oak took on Asante Kotoko.

This is by far the worst of a recent spate of football stadia tragedies which have seen more than two hundred fans killed in four incidents in the past month.

The deaths have followed hard on world governing body FIFA's confirmation that it wanted the 2010 World Cup finals to be staged in Africa.  The Ghanaian government has already started an inquiry into the stampede after police fired tear gas into the crowd.

"I have set up an internal probe to investigate this tragedy. We're not going to shield anybody," Ghana's police chief Inspector General Ernest Owusu-Poku told Accra radio station Joy FM

Ghana's President John Kufuor will meet with his cabinet in an emergency session today with a period of national mourning to be declared.  At least fifty fans were injured and more than 100 crushed to death after people rushed to exits after the tear gas was thrown into a fight between rival supporters.

Hearts of Oak were leading 2-1 after two late goals near the end of the game when Asante Kotoko fans started to throw parts of seats onto the pitch.

The Accra stadium was close to capacity with nearly 50,000 fans inside and panic swept over the crowd who tried to escape the police action by heading for exits all at the same time.

The two clubs and their fans are bitter enemies.  Hearts have won the last four Ghanaian league titles and are based in the capital city while Kotoko are from the second city of Kumasi and represent the traditional Asante province.

Heart of Oaks' Champions League win last December was marred by crowd violence as the team defeated Esperance of Tunisia.  The final was halted for 18 minutes in the 80th minute when police fired tear gas into the crowd as Hearts fans threw missiles at a line official in the 80th minute. But the Ghanaian team escaped punishment due to the discovery that Esperance goalkeeper El Ouaer had deliberately cut his head to try and get the match abandoned.  His antics diverted attention for the real problems Hearts have been having with their volatile support and the Accra stadium policing used tear gas again last night but with tragic consequences this time.

The tragedy is one of several recent events which have sent shudders through FIFA at the prospect of World Cup tragedy in 2010.

On April 11th last month 43 fans were crushed to death when people tried to force their way into Johannesburg's Ellis Park stadium during a local derby.

At least seven people were killed and 51 injured on April 30th in a stampede in the Democratic Republic of Congo when police tried to stop crowd violence at a match in Lubumbashi.

source: World Soccer News