Relatives hunt for the missing after Guinea stadium crush amid fears official death toll is too low

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — A distraught Kambaly Kouroumah is searching for his teenage brother, Adama, at a local morgue in southern Guinea’s Nzerekore city, where dozens of people died at a crowded stadium after chaos erupted during a soccer game.

Kouroumah is one of many bereaved people searching hospitals and mortuaries for missing relatives following Sunday’s tragic events during the final of a national tournament honoring military leader Mamadi Doumbouya.

Official estimates say 56 people died in the crush, but the unofficial death toll is at least 135, according to the Collective of Human Rights Organizations of the Nzerekore region. More than 50 people remain missing, including Adama, 15, who was “everything” to his devastated brother.

“I want to see him now, dead or alive,” a heartbroken Kouroumah said.

The world’s latest sports crowd disaster happened during the final of the tournament at the Third of April stadium in honor of Doumbouya, who overran the country’s elected president three years ago and added it to the list of several West African countries hit by military coups in recent years.

But for a football-loving nation hungry for its first World Cup qualification and an Africa Cup of Nations triumph, the two-week tournament in Nzerekore, almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the capital of Conakry, had attracted not just adults and youths, but also children.

Chaos had erupted at the crowded and open stadium after fans protested a referee’s penalty call and were throwing stones towards the field, according to witnesses and local media. Security forces reacted to the disturbance with tear gas as fans poured onto the pitch, survivors said.

While some fans managed to jump over the high fence to escape, videos from the scene showed many struggling to squeeze themselves through the main stadium entrance, ending up being crushed by the crowd.

Desperate fans were seen shouting and crying for help, many of them being trampled as they struggled to avoid the crush.

Among the dead was Jaquerine Keba Koévogui, 15, whose father said she rarely visited the stadium and, although she loved soccer, would always prefer to watch it on television.

“My daughter was with other members of the family, mostly boys who were able to jump over the stadium walls while she tried to get out through the entrance,” said Jules Koevogui, 42.

Mamadou Sanoh’s painful search for his 10-year-son ended with heartbreak.

“I went to the morgue and saw his body,” said Sanoh. “I cannot tell you the shock I am feeling.”

The National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy opposition coalition said the tournament was organized to drum up support for the “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions of the junta leader.

While videos showed the stadium was filled at full capacity, Cissé Lancine, a local sports journalist, estimated there were between 20,000 and 30,000 spectators.

The coalition has criticised the use of tear gas and has accused the security forces of using their vehicles to obstruct the stadium entrances.

In Conakry and other parts of the country, flags are at half-mast as the country observes three days of mourning.

Nzerekore’s human rights organizations have called for the arrest of the organizers of the tournament.

Authorities have said they were investigating the incident which adds growing pressure on Doumbouya who, since forcefully taking over power in 2021, has failed to solve the economic and political challenges he chastised the previous government for.

The United Nations in Guinea has promised a quick response involving humanitarian, medical and psychological support to the victims of the disaster.

“This tragedy is a painful reminder of the crucial importance of ensuring safety in public places,” it said in a statement released on the X platform.

Struggling to process the grief, families are asking questions and finding ways to prevent a reoccurrence.

“We must now keep our children away from large demonstrations of mobilization,” said Joel Gbamou, a civil society activist who lost his two sons in the tragedy.

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AP journalist Mark Banchereau in Dakar, Senegal, contributed.

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