The Accra Sport Stadium disaster occurred at the

Ohene Djan Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra. Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium wa ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

on May 9, 2001. It took the lives of 126 people, making it the worst stadium disaster to have ever taken place in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It is also the third-deadliest disaster in the history of

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 ...

behind the Estadio Nacional disaster and

Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster On 1 October 2022, a fatal human crush occurred following an association football match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Following a loss by home side Arema to rivals Persebaya Surabaya, around 3,000 Arema support ...

Event

Ghana's two most successful football teams played that day,

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra ( Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its tra ...

and

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

. Officials were anticipating crowd disturbances, and had taken extra security measures. Accra scored two late goals, and a referee called 2–1 Accra, resulting in disappointed Kotoko fans throwing plastic seats and bottles onto the pitch. The police responded by firing

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

into the crowd. Panic and a stampede ensued as fans tried to escape. Gates were locked and the stadium's compromised design left a bottleneck, with fewer exits than originally planned. Ghana Institute of Architects called the stadium a "death trap." After the hour-long ordeal, it was found that 116 deaths resulted from

compressive asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can ...

and 10 fans died from trauma. A fan, Abdul Mohammed, had passed out from the tear gas and was moved to a morgue, thought to be dead. He regained consciousness after someone stepped on his foot, narrowly missing being buried alive. Reports claim that medical staff had already left the stadium, as the incident happened near the end of the match. Some gates were locked, preventing escape. In an interview with the

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, the deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Joe Aggrey, described the event as a devastating one with piles of bodies on the floors of the stadium.

Aftermath

An official inquiry blamed police for over-reacting with reckless behaviour and indiscriminate firing of plastic bullets and tear gas. It also accused some officers of dishonesty and indefensible laxity. Six police officers were charged with 127 counts of manslaughter. The court ruled that the prosecution had failed to make a case and that the asphyxia may have been caused by the stampede and not the tear gas. The commission of inquiry recommended improvements to stadium security and first aid facilities, and that nationwide rapid response teams should be set up. Accra Sports Stadium was renovated in 2007 according to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

standards. Politics may have deferred the National Sports Council's attention to the stadium and it was again in disrepair 15 years after the disaster.

Memorial

Following the event Ghana's president,

John Agyekum Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been spe ...

, called for three days of mourning. The Ghana Premier Football League suspended play for a month. Since 2001 corporations and philanthropists, including Herbert Mensah, who was Asante Kotoko chairman from 1999 to 2003, have memorialized this tragedy with the Stadium Disaster Fund and a series of events in Kumasi. The events include paying respects to families of victims and their 148 children, their invitation to the Otumfuo's birthday at Manhyia Palace, prayers in the local Central Mosque, donations to the needy, the laying of a memorial wreath and a memorial march called the "May 9th Remembered Street Walk." In 2016 an annual memorial "May 9th Cup" football competition was created. Mensah has appealed to the government to memorialize that May 9, to no agreement. In 2017 the memorial events were themed "Embrace the Day." A bronze statue was erected outside the stadium of a fan carrying another fan to safety with the inscription title "I Am My Brother's Keeper" in honor of the victims of the tragedy. Fans who attend matches at the stadium now chant "Never Again! Never Again!" to remind themselves of the day.

Similar events

* Heysel Stadium disaster *

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in ...

2015 Accra explosion On June 3, 2015, an explosion and a fire occurred at a petrol station in Ghana's capital city Accra, killing over 250 people. Explosion The GOIL station, near Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in the city's downtown area, was being used as a shelter ...

* 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster

References

External links

Crowd Dynamics report
{{Coord, 5, 33, 6, N, 0, 11, 30, W, type:event_region:GH, display=title Stadium disasters Human stampedes in 2001 Football in Ghana Sport in Accra Man-made disasters in Ghana 2001 in Ghana 2001 in African football Police misconduct in Ghana 21st century in Accra Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. Asante Kotoko S.C. May 2001 events in Africa Association football controversies 2001 disasters in Ghana