By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
CONAKTY (Worthy News) – Scores of people were killed and several injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in southern Guinea following clashes between fans sparked by anger over the referee’s decision, the government confirmed Monday.
At least 56 people, including children, reportedly died in the bloodshed during the final of a soccer tournament in honor of Guinea’s military leader Mamady Doumbouya at a stadium in Nzerekore, one of the West African nation’s largest cities.
Communications Minister Fana Soumah said on national television that authorities are investigating who was responsible for Sunday’s stampede.
“Protests of dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions led to stone-throwing by supporters, resulting in fatal stampedes” at Sunday’s match, the government added. “Hospital services have put the provisional death toll at 56.”
Witnesses said rival fans stormed the field following the controversial referee decision. Footage reviewed by Worthy News showed people running in panic while a man was seen carrying a chair.
Health officials spoke about dozens of dead bodies piling up. “There are bodies lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital,” a doctor said. “Others are lying on the floor in the hallways. The morgue is full.”
Paul Sakouvogi, a local journalist in the area, said authorities restricted internet access while police guarded the hospital. “I observe six police positions in front of three hospital entrances.”
MEDICAL TREATMENT
He suggested that it was difficult for survivors to learn about their loved ones receiving medical treatment. “They only allow medical staff to access the hospital, while others are told to go home,” the reporter said.
The tragedy added to social and political upheaval in Guinea, with the National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy opposition coalition saying the tournament to increase support for the “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions of Doumbouya.
The military has led Guinea since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021.
It is one of a growing number of West African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule.
Doumbouya, who ousted the president three years ago, claims he is preventing the country from slipping into chaos and condemns the previous government for “broken promises.”
He has been criticized for not fulfilling his pledges in this mainly Muslim nation of nearly 14 million people, where Christians comprise roughly 13 percent of the population.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed President Donald Trump a significant victory in his effort to tighten federal election safeguards, lifting a lower-court injunction that had blocked parts of his executive order addressing mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The Trump administration on Monday launched what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called an unprecedented global economic offensive against Iran, unveiling a sweeping sanctions campaign designed to sever Tehran from the international financial system and choke off revenue flowing to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime.
The Trump administration formally removed Syria from the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism on Monday, ending a designation that had been in place since 1979 and opening the door for broader foreign investment and Syria’s reintegration into the international financial system.
European leaders rallied around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday as Ukraine marked 35 years of independence and its fifth Independence Day since Russia’s full-scale invasion, while senior representatives of the administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump were notably absent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that holding elections in wartime, as suggested by his former defense minister, would “destroy” the country.
The European Union marked Ukraine’s Independence Day by pledging to provide the war-torn nation with 6.1 billion euros ($7.1 billion) for “air and missile defense systems” as well as other “missiles, ammunition and radars.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham accused Russia on Monday of “outrageous threats” against the United Kingdom after Moscow warned that his decision to provide Ukraine with newly declassified blueprints for the production of long-range missiles would escalate the war.