Monrovia — At least eight people died of suffocation caused by overcrowding at the stadium where Liberia faced the Gambia in a soccer match Sunday, according to published news reports in Monrovia today.
The Lone Stars of Liberia were playing their counterparts from the Gambia at the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Sport Complex in Monrovia. The game was an African Nations Cup/World Cup qualifying match
The stadium seating capacity is about 35,000 but security guards could not contain thousands more who flooded the stadium. The match was Liberia's first game in the qualifying series and expectations for what many regard as a new team – especially with the hiring of the German coach, Antoine Hey – have been building for weeks.
Authorities at the Liberia Football Association are blaming "criminal elements" who produced duplicate tickets for the overcrowding of the stadium. Football lovers started arriving hours before the game started and it became apparent long before kick-off that there would be problems in controlling the crowd.
Local radio stations were told before the match to ask those en route to the stadium to turn back. It is not clear whether this call was heeded – there were already thousands of people outside the stadium, waiting to enter.
In the stadium itself, the crowd became rowdy, pushing and shoving. There were many cries for "water" when the heat from the midday sun set in. The showers of rain that fell did not alleviate the problem and fire trucks had to be called upon to help
The game itself ended in a 1-1 draw.
With another game scheduled for the stadium, many are calling on the authorities to treat Sunday's tragedy as a wake-up call to plan better.
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At this momemt we offer silent to our dear loving comrades, citizens and lovers of football (soccer) who die in support of african teams as a whole. What a sad momemt for Liberia and even our dear visiting team from the Gambia. I say, may those who die souls rest in perpetual peace and pray that the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government will and should provide funeral expenses to their families as they died in support of the Lone Star team.
SKD Stadium Tragedy
First, I extend my sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives in the soccer studium tragedy. But, there we go again! When will we learn not to put all blames of mishaps on the President of Liberia? In every society, there are bureacracies. I think the issue of the lost of lives or any incidents at that sporting event should be directed to the agency or agencis that is/are responsible to make sure that everything goes right. Instead, the anonymous person who wrote the comment is placing the fault on the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's Government. This person may not stop there, but sooner or later may incit problem in Liberia that may affect innocent people in Liberia.
Please stop placing all blames on the President. The rightful agency or agencies should investigate and take care of the situation.
J. Horace
Fellow Liberians, the SKD unfortunate situation is a repeating test of our govt's responsibility, public welfare,and justice. This incident first occured during during the late 1990s and no action was taken to retify the threat. It is our Government's duty through the sports ministry to determin the carring capacity of the stidum and the police to ensure that overcrowding is prevented. Dear Liberians in order for us to move forward, we need to hold people accountable for their mistakes to ensure that we do not have a reoccurance. Making execuses and taking appoligies from our government will not make the government understand its responsibilities The families of the victims are entittled to a class action lawsuit against the Liberian Government. This is their legal right and someone ought to inform them. Corrupt officers of the police should be be brought to justice.
what happend yesterday was complete mess! the Liberian police is a criminal hade out, they're responsible for what happen to our brothers. those guys recicle the tickit.
SKD Studium Tragedy
Note to the writer. Please tell your readers why the Liberian Police are considered "criminal hide out" and are responsible for the incident at the stadium? Were they are the ones that sold the fake admission tickets to the game that caused admission to the game to exceed it's allowed capacity? Do they have enough man-power for crowd control?
Next time please think about this before you pass on the blame. Thank you.
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