Ghana observe 13 years of stadium tragedy

Accra, May 10 (IANS) Ghana's Minister of Youth and Sports Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah has joined hundreds of soccer fans to mark the 13th anniversary of the stadium disaster of 2001.

The solemn wreath-laying ceremony took place Friday at the forecourt of the Accra Sports Stadium where the incident claimed 127 lives, reports Xinhua. It was the worst stadium disaster in Africa.

Government officials, soccer fans, administrators and family members of those killed attended the solemn ceremony.

Afriyie-Ankrah laid a wreath on behalf of the government, Michael Nkansah for Asante Kotoko, Muheed Saeed for Hearts of Oak, and Aziz Haruna Futah for the victims and Muslim community.

The tragedy occurred during a match between Ghana's two most successful football teams, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

The home side scored two late goals to defeat Kotoko 2-1, which led to disappointed Kotoko fans throwing plastic seats and bottles onto the pitch.

The response to this crowd disturbance from the police was to fire tear gas into the stands, creating panic and a stampede that led to the deaths of 127 soccer fans and injury to hundreds of others.

Families of the victims accused successive governments of neglect but appealed to the government and football authorities to show concern by coming up with financial support for dependents of the dead.

Meanwhile, as part of activities to mark the anniversary, a walk was organised in Kumasi Friday to raise funds for families of victims of that tragedy. The walk also drew attention to the effects of soccer violence and took a strong stand against the phenomenon.