Fifty die in soccer stampede

Emergency workers treated injured fans on the pitch

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- At least 50 people have been killed at a football match between South Africa's two biggest teams.

The stampede began as a crowd tried to get into Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg to watch the match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

South African Minister of Sport Ngconde Balfour told CNN that medics and police were in the stadium and ferrying the injured to hospital

"We had a stampede at the game between the two biggest teams in the country and there were more supporters than the stadium could hold," he said. "This type of thing should not have happened."

AUDIO CNN's Charlayne Hunter Gault: Tickets were oversold 545kb/49sec. AIFF or WAV sound S. African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour: People were crushed 421kb/39sec. AIFF or WAV sound

He added that 50 people had died in the crush, although it is not yet known whether the death toll will rise higher.

Balfour said he would be speaking to the country's football authorities on Thursday.

A live broadcast by South African Broadcasting Corporation from the stadium showed bodies scattered inside and outside the stadium.

Emergency vehicles outside the stadium were unable to move amid the soccer traffic.

At least 25 injured people were taken to hospital in a disaster-relief bus and others were being sent by helicopter, emergency services spokesman Piet Olivier told the South African Press Association.

SABC reported that too many tickets had been sold for the match and people outside the ground had tried to push into the stadium. Fans were reported to have been trapped against barbed wire.

Police had earlier fired tear gas at people stampeding outside the stadium. The Premier Soccer League derby was stopped after 17 minutes.

Reuters contributed to this report.

South African Government
South African Broadcasting Corporation

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