BRAZZAVILLE, Nov 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thirty-seven Congolese youths were killed in a stampede overnight during an army recruitment drive in a stadium in the capital Brazzaville, officials said.
“A tragedy unfolded at the Ornano stadium on the night of Monday to Tuesday leading to deaths and injuries. The provisional toll established by emergency services is 37 deaths and several others injured,” a crisis cell headed by Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso said.
Last week, the army in the central African nation also known as Congo-Brazzaville announced it was recruiting 1,500 people aged between 18 and 25.
Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso, who said 37 people had been killed in the “tragedy”, announced that an unspecified number of other people were also injured.
“A crisis unit has been set up under the authority of the prime minister,” a statement added. Other details about the incident are still hazy.
Potential recruits had been directed to go to the Michel d’Ornano Stadium in the heart of Brazzaville.
According to local residents, many people were still in the stadium on Monday night when the stampede began. Some people had tried to force their way through gates, with many being trampled in the scramble, residents said.
Unemployment is rampant in the country of 5.8 million people, where according to the World Bank, “75 percent of the Congolese workforce are employed in the informal sector, either self-employed or in low-productivity jobs”. — NNN-AGENCIES