Eleven people, including two police officers, died on Saturday, October 29, in the stampede that occurred during the concert of Congolese musician Fally Ipupa at the Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa. This official report was given by the Minister of the Interior, Daniel Aselo Okito.
“What happened is the consequence of the behavior of the organizer. The police, the stadium and the organizer had agreed on a certain percentage about the number of people who should have access to the stadium. The organizer went beyond 100%. People suffocated,” Okito said.
The Congolese News Agency (ACP), quoting the provincial commissioner of the national police, General Sylvano Kasongo, had previously reported eight deaths, including a policeman.
“The jostling is at the root of these deaths. The music lovers were suffocated,” a police officer present at the stadium said.
Two ambulances transported people who were apparently unconscious, an ACP team found.
One of the spectators said that “all the seats in the Martyrs stadium were occupied, but there were spectators, glued to each other even in the corridors.”
Pressure from the crowd even caused three police cordons to yield to secure the stadium lawn, the VIP stand and the podium on which Fally Ipupa was performing.
The latter arrived at the stadium several hours after the scheduled time, while the stadium was full before 4pm, the time scheduled for the start of his concert.
Translated by allafrica’s Michael Tantoh