Fans at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny stadium pushed against one another shortly before the game between Ivory Coast and Malawi, setting off a panic that led to the stampede, the Interior Minister, Désiré Tagro, said on state television.
“They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in,” Tagro said.
An Associated Press photographer said people began shoving and pushing 40 minutes before the game. The police fired tear gas into a section of the crowd.
Ollo Kambire, a reporter for Super Sport, a daily newspaper, said that a wall had collapsed under the weight of the fans as they pushed toward the field. “We saw people falling,” he said. “Then there was panic and a stampede.”
Ivory Coast won the match, 5-0.
There have been a number of stampedes at Africa’s crowded stadiums. Poorly equipped security forces are far outnumbered and are often unable to control the heavy crowds.
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