The Ellis Park Stadium disaster was a
crowd crush
Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse ...
that occurred on 11 April 2001, claiming the lives of 43 people. Surpassing the
Oppenheimer Stadium disaster, it became the worst sporting accident in South African history. Spectators poured into the
Ellis Park Stadium
Ellis Park Stadium (known as Emirates Airline Park for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was ...
in the city of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
Gauteng
Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, for the local
Soweto derby
The Soweto Derby is a football rivalry between Premier Soccer League's Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in South Africa. It was first contested on 24 January 1970. Matches between the two rivals attract a large fanbase. The rivalry is recogn ...
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match between
Kaizer Chiefs
Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...
and
Orlando Pirates
Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...
. There was a 60,000 capacity crowd in the stadium, but reports suggest a further 30,000 more fans were trying to gain entry to the stadium. Reports also suggest that 120,000 fans were admitted into the stadium. An Orlando Pirates equaliser sparked a further surge by the fans trying to gain entry as they scrambled to see what had happened. The match was stopped after approximately 34 minutes of play when authorities received an unusually high volume of reported injuries.
Incident
As the crowd surged to gain seats and see the pitch, they overspilled into
press box
The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the e ...
es, and 43 people were crushed to death. Apparently untrained security guards firing tear gas at the stampeding fans exacerbated the situation, and may have been the cause of some of the deaths. The South African Police Services denied these claims. The final inquiry into the incident concluded that a major cause was bribed security personnel admitting fans without tickets into the stadium and poor crowd control.
When it became apparent what had happened, the match was halted and the crowd was dispersed. The bodies were laid out on the pitch for identification and medical attention, but none were revived. This was the worst sporting accident in South African history, surpassing the
Oppenheimer Stadium disaster in 1991. This mirrored the Ellis Park Stadium disaster as it involved the same two teams. Forty-two people died then in a stampede after too many fans were admitted to
Oppenheimer Stadium in
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, a mining town some from
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
.
See also
*
Crowd collapses and crushes
Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse ...
References
External links
*
South African pressBBC coverage
{{coord, 26, 11, 51.07, S, 28, 3, 38.76, E, type:landmark, display=title
Sport in Johannesburg
Human stampedes in 2001
Stadium disasters
Man-made disasters in South Africa
Soccer in South Africa
Kaizer Chiefs F.C.
Orlando Pirates F.C.
Sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
2000–01 in South African soccer
Association football controversies
21st century in Johannesburg
April 2001 events in Africa
2001 disasters in South Africa