At least eight people reported dead after crush at Africa Cup of Nations match

At least eight people are reported to have died in a stampede outside a stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations game in Cameroon on Monday.

The incident, which is also said to have left dozens injured, occurred at the round-of-16 tie between hosts Cameroon and Comoros in the Olembe area of the capital Yaounde.

A statement from the Cameroon government confirmed the deaths, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the continent's football government body, saying it was investigating the incident.

Reports say fans were involved in a crush as they attempted to make their way into the Paul Biya Stadium, a 60,000 capacity arena named after Cameroon’s president.

Football officials said 50,000 people had tried to attend the match, but the stadium was not meant to be more than 80% full for the game due to restrictions on the size of the crowd because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials at the nearby Messassi hospital said they received at least 40 injured people, who were rushed to the hospital by police and civilians. The officials said the hospital wasn't capable of treating all of them.

“Some of the injured are in desperate condition," said nurse Olinga Prudence. “We will have to evacuate them to a specialised hospital”.

According to witnesses, people were seen lying motionless on their backs near an entrance to the stadium in the aftermath of the crush. A man knelt next to one of the victims and appeared to be trying to resuscitate them. Shoes, caps and colourful wigs — part of some of the fans' game costumes — were strewn on the ground.

Witnesses said children were among those caught up in the crush. The witnesses said it happened when stadium stewards closed the gates and stopped allowing people in.

It was not immediately clear if the crush happened before or during the game, but some on social media have questioned why the match was allowed to continue with the reports of fans being crushed just outside the gates.

One of the CAF's top officials, general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba, went to visit injured fans in the hospital, a statement said.

Cameroon is hosting the African Cup for the first time in 50 years. It was meant to host the tournament in 2019 but the event was taken away that year and awarded to Egypt because of serious concerns with Cameroon's preparations, particularly the readiness of its stadiums.

Olembe Stadium was one of the venues that was under scrutiny.

Monday's incident was the second serious blow to the country in the space of a day, after at least 17 people died from a fire set off by a series of explosions at a nightclub in Yaounde on Sunday.

Following that incident, Cameroon President Paul Biya urged the country to be on guard while it hosts its biggest national sports event in a half century.

Cameroon won Monday's game 2-1 to move on to the quarterfinals.