Football
Associated Press 7y

Stampede before football match in Angola leaves 17 dead

A crowd stampeded at a football stadium before a league match in Angola, leaving at least 17 people dead and dozens injured.

Angolan and Portuguese media say the accident happened Friday in the northwestern town of Uige when hundreds of people rushed at one of the stadium gates, causing some people to fall and be trampled underfoot.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa said some of the dead are children.

Lusa and Angop, Angola's state-run news agency, reported a death toll of 17.

Angop says President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has instructed officials to assist the injured and to open an investigation.

Spectators had gone to the stadium to watch the inaugural game between home team Santa Rita de Cassia and Recreativo de Libolo in the national Girabola competition.

"Some people had to walk on top of other people," Ernesto Luis, director general of a local hospital, told Reuters. "There were 76 casualties, of whom 17 died."

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