Ghana Mourns After Soccer Tragedy

May 10 -- A day after a soccer stampede left more than 100 dead in Ghana, police overreaction was being blamed for one of the worst soccer tragedies in African history.

The stampede occurred during the final minutes of a game between two local rival teams at the Accra Sports Stadium, when fans of the losing team began throwing bottles onto the field and ripping the stadium seats. Police responded with tear gas, causing panicked fans to stampede towards the exit gates.

Calling the incident a "national tragedy," President John Kufuor today held an emergency cabinet meeting and a national period of mourning is expected to be declared.

As local media reports pointed to the role of the police in the tragedy, Ghana's top-ranking police official promised to look into the issue. Speaking on local Joy FM Radio, Inspector General Ernest Owusu-Poku said an internal probe would be launched to investigate thetragedy. "We're not going to shield anybody," he said.

The stampede, the fourth such tragedy in soccer-crazy Africa in a month, occurred five minutes before the end of the game, when the local Accra Hearts of Oak were leading 2-1 against Assante Kotoko.

Services Stretched

Medical and emergency services in the city of Accra struggled to cope with the injuries a day after the incident.

Hospitals in the city of Accra quickly filled with the injured and their relatives as the wail of ambulances could be heard throughout the city.

"I saw young men, young virile men, lying dead on the floor. I'm devastated. I couldn't count [the dead]," the BBC reported Ghana's Deputy Sports Minister, Joe Aggrey, as saying.

Stadium safety has been a major issue bogging Africa's hopes of holding the 2010 World Cup tournament.

On April 11, 43 people were killed in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On April 29, eight people died after an incident in Lubumbashi, Congo.

And one person died and 39 others were injured on May 6, when fighting broke out among fans at a soccer match in Ivory Coast.