Guinea rights groups say death toll in stadium stampede too low

Guinea’s military-led government has warned that publishing ‘unverified’ information on the incident will result in arrests.

Human rights groups have said some 135 people were killed in a crush at a football stadium in Guinea, a tally more than twice as high as the official toll of 56 put forward by the country’s military-led government.

The Collective of Human Rights Organizations of the Nzerekore region said on Tuesday that based on information from the hospital, cemeteries, witnesses at the stadium, families of victims, mosques, churches and the local press, it estimated that a total of 135 people died at the stadium – mostly children under the age of 18 – while more than 50 others were still missing.

A controversial refereeing decision led to crowd violence and tear gas volleys from police during the match in the town of Nzerekore on Sunday, leading to a deadly stampede as spectators tried to flee.

The match was the final of a cup tournament organised in honour of the head of the military government, Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and installed himself as president.

The collective blamed security forces for using excessive tear gas and prioritising the protection of officials over spectators.

It also said vehicles carrying officials and others escaping the stadium had struck spectators as they tried to flee what it described as an overcrowded venue whose gate was being obstructed by security forces.

Separately, the opposition alliance the Living Forces of Guinea (FVG) said in a statement that the crush had killed “around one hundred people”.

The High Council of the Diaspora, an organisation of Guineans living abroad, also published a statement declaring “300 deaths, most of them young people and teenagers, and hundreds of injured, some seriously”.

The military-led government has warned that anyone publishing “unverified or malicious information” about the incident will face arrest.

Justice Minister Yaya Kairaba Kaba said in a video published on Facebook late on Tuesday that “disseminating unverified or malicious information on social media that is likely to disturb public order is inadmissible and exposes those responsible to sanctions.”

“I warn that anyone who engages in such behaviour will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law,” he added.

Doumbouya has pledged to set up a commission of inquiry into Sunday’s tragedy to determine the cause of the stampede and hold perpetrators accountable.