Johannesburg, June 6 (DPA) Ten people, including a policeman, were injured in South Africa Sunday when a huge crowd of football fans tried to force their way into a pre-World Cup friendly between Nigeria and North Korea, police said.
The stampede took place at Makhulong stadium in Tembisa township, mid-way between Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria.
Both North Korea and Nigeria are participating in the World Cup, which starts June 11.
‘Just before the start of the match a huge crowd descended at the stadium and forced their way onto the ground.
‘Police tried to calm the situation but they were overpowered,’ police colonel Hangwani Mulaudzi told DPA.
One police officer and nine spectators were injured, he said.
The policeman and two of the supporters were taken by ambulance to hospital with minor injuries; the rest were treated by emergency services at the scene.
The game went ahead and Nigeria won 3-1.
Stampedes are common at football games in Africa, where tickets are cheap and fans arrive late and then try to push their way into the stadium.
‘It is a tendency when you come to a soccer match – where the spectators come late,’ Mulaudzi said.
The 10,000-capacity stadium was full for the game, which was free of charge, he said.
Most of the spectators were supporters of Nigeria, which has a large immigrant community in South Africa, mostly living in townships like Tembisa.
Mulaudzi laid the blame for the incident at the North Korean team’s door, saying it was their job to provide security because they were hosting the game at their training ground.
Nigeria travelled to the game from their camp at Richards Bay, near the Indian Ocean city of Durban, around six hours away by car.
‘They were supposed to provide security for that. At the same time that does not absolve the South African police from their normal duties of crowd control,’ Mulaudzi said.
World Cup organising body FIFA declined to comment on the incident, or on the possible threat of such an accident at a World Cup game, saying it was still gathering information on the stampede.
