At least 13 people, including seven children, were killed on Friday in a crowd stampede at a stadium in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo, as per the Red Cross and a local member of parliament, as reported by the news agency AFP. "So far, 13 people have been killed and 107 injured," said opposition MP Hanitra Razafimanantsoa on a local radio station.
"We don't yet have the final list. Seven minors died," the Red Cross, who were present on the scene, said, as quoted by AFP. The prime minister of the Indian Ocean nation, Christian Ntsay, had initially put the toll at "12 dead and some 80 injured".
Stampede At Barea Stadium During Opening Ceremony of Indian Ocean Island Games
A stampede occurred at the entrance of the Barea stadium in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo, where a crowd of around 50,000 spectators had arrived to attend the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games. The reason behind the stampede was not immediately known, but the Red Cross claimed that the toll could climb. "There were a lot of people at the entrance, which triggered a stampede," Antsa Mirado, a communications manager with the Red Cross, told AFP.
Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, who was present at the opening ceremony, called for a minute's silence. "A tragic event occurred because there was pushing. There were injuries and deaths at the entrance," he said in a televised speech, as quoted by AFP. TV images broadcast images of dazed and shocked people trying to locate their shoes piled amongst objects lost in the deadly crush, as per AFP.
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The images from inside the stadium that surfaced on social media showed the stands packed with spectators.
Indian Ocean Island Games To Be Held in Madagascar Till September 3
The Indian Ocean Island Games are a multi-disciplinary competition being held in Madagascar until September 3.
The Games are being staged every four years in different islands in the south-west Indian Ocean for around 40 years. The previous edition took place in Mauritius.
Madagascar No Stranger To Deaths In Stadium
The Barea stadium, the largest on the island of around 28 million inhabitants, witnessed a similar incident in 2019. At least 16 people, including three children, were killed and dozens sustained injuries during a concert organised on the occasion of the country's national holiday.
In 2016, at least three people were killed and a hundred were left injured in the same Barea stadium after a homemade bomb exploded on Independence Day.
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