Two Dead, Many Injured In Horror Stampede At Iraq Football Stadium
Category: Bizarre News
Two people have died and dozens more injured in a horror stampede at a stadium
in Basra, Iraq.
Locals reported that 27 people had been left
unable to breathe and sustained fractures during the incident in front of the
Palm Trunk Stadium.
Thousands of Iraqis without tickets had
gathered at dawn for this evening’s Arabian Gulf Cup match with Oman, hoping
to attend anyway when some began to push, according to an interior ministry
official.
Horrific footage from the scene shows a mass of
thousands of fans squeezed into a long, tight avenue.
In one
heart-stopping clip of the aftermath, their mangled, injured bodies can be
seen strewn around on the tarmac after the crush.
Some locals
reported the victims had lost consciousness and fainted as they struggled to
save themselves from the stampede.
Iraq’s hardened state security forces could be seen clambering
through the devastation to retrieve and revive those who fell.
A
third video shows dedicated Iraqi football lovers clambering over the
stadium’s outer gates to storm the security agents so they could watch their
team play this afternoon.
This morning, the spokesman for Iraq’s
Ministry of Interior Major General Khaled Al-Mahna, warned sports fans to
avoid the venue.
Al-Muhanna told Earth News, “We call upon the fans
who do not have tickets not to gather in front of the sports city gates, in
order to preserve their lives.”
He said: “The security forces are present and alert for any emergency.”
“There are other areas to watch the match on the giant screens
that have been provided,” he added.
The tragedy comes amid the
Arabian Gulf Cup
Today’s tournament is the first major football
competition hosted by Iraq for more than four decades.
It comes as
the country seeks to reverse 40 years of violence and instability and to throw
itself back into the international community.
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