Interior Minister Daniel Aselo Okito on Sunday blamed the organisers for
the deaths, saying the Martyrs’ stadium concert in Kinshasa “went beyond
100 percent capacity”.
The stadium was packed beyond its capacity of 80,000 and some of the crowd
ended up forcing their way into the VIP and reserved sections, reporters of
Reuters news agency at the concert said.
“Eleven people dead … including two police,” the minister told reporters at
the stadium, sending condolences to relatives of the casualties.
He said he deplored the “loss of human life” and said the organisers “must
be punished”.
Security forces had earlier fired tear gas to disperse violent crowds in
the streets outside the stadium where many had gathered before the concert
by Kinshasa-born Ipupa.
The 44-year-old is one of Africa’s leading musicians whose albums sell
worldwide.
Singer-songwriter Ipupa, “like all Congolese singers”, had arrived several
hours after the show had been scheduled to start, the agency noted.
People gather at the concert of the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa, where
people were killed, including police officers, in a crush at the
overcrowded Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
“It was a stampede,” that caused the deaths, a policeman on the scene told
the official Congolese Press Agency ACP.
“The music lovers suffocated.”
Kinshasa police chief General Sylvain Sasongo had earlier told ACP nine
people had died, amid reports the venue had been jammed with people for the
local favourite’s performance, with one witness saying “even the corridors”
of the stadium were overflowing.
the deaths, saying the Martyrs’ stadium concert in Kinshasa “went beyond
100 percent capacity”.
The stadium was packed beyond its capacity of 80,000 and some of the crowd
ended up forcing their way into the VIP and reserved sections, reporters of
Reuters news agency at the concert said.
“Eleven people dead … including two police,” the minister told reporters at
the stadium, sending condolences to relatives of the casualties.
He said he deplored the “loss of human life” and said the organisers “must
be punished”.
Security forces had earlier fired tear gas to disperse violent crowds in
the streets outside the stadium where many had gathered before the concert
by Kinshasa-born Ipupa.
The 44-year-old is one of Africa’s leading musicians whose albums sell
worldwide.
Singer-songwriter Ipupa, “like all Congolese singers”, had arrived several
hours after the show had been scheduled to start, the agency noted.
People gather at the concert of the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa, where
people were killed, including police officers, in a crush at the
overcrowded Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
“It was a stampede,” that caused the deaths, a policeman on the scene told
the official Congolese Press Agency ACP.
“The music lovers suffocated.”
Kinshasa police chief General Sylvain Sasongo had earlier told ACP nine
people had died, amid reports the venue had been jammed with people for the
local favourite’s performance, with one witness saying “even the corridors”
of the stadium were overflowing.
