President Paul Kagame has sent his condolences to President Mamadi Doumbouya of Guinea and the people of the West African country, following a deadly stadium stampede that left at least 56 people dead over the weekend.
“My sincere condolences to my brother, President General Mamadi Doumbouya @presi_doumbouya and to the people of Guinea for the lives lost during the unfortunate incident at the stadium in N’Zérékoré. We stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and the people of Guinea,” President Kagame wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The deadly stampede was triggered by a controversial refereeing decision at a parked stadium in N’Zérékoré, in the southeastern part of Guinea, killing 56 people, according to a provisional toll, the government released on Monday. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people scrambled to exit the stadium in the final minutes of the game in honour of President Doumbouya.
Fans threw stones, triggering panic and a crush, following a disputed red card in the 82nd minute of the match, which kicked off the violence.
The crowd rushed to leave, leading to a dangerous stampede at the exits as police closed off the stadium to restore order. Videos on social media show dozens of people scrambling over high walls to escape while others show victims lined up on the ground. In one video, over a dozen dead bodies could be seen, several of them children.
President Doumbouya declared three days of national mourning and said a committee was put in place to investigate the cause, urging citizens to remain calm following the fatal incident.