Out of Play

Stadium tragedy as fan dies and 40 injured in crowd stampede

One fan has died and at least 40 others have been injured after a stadium crush at an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Madagascar were hosting Liverpool star Sadio Mane’s Senegal at the Mahamasina Stadiumin in Antananarivo on Sunday afternoon.

But there was tragedy after a stampede occurred outside of the ground in the build-up to the game.

Hospital officials have confirmed that one person lost their life, while another two were in critical situations.

Oliva Alison Rakoto, the director of Hrja Hospital, said: “In all, there are 41 patients that entered the hospital including one dead on the spot and two in fairly precarious states.

Fans queued for hours to get into the stadium (Image: AFP)

There were masses of people trying to get to the game (Image: AFP)

The stampede took place ahead of kick-off (Image: AFP)

“The two critically injured patients have head and thoracic trauma.”

The incident took place shortly before the 2:30pm kick-off.

Fans had waited outside the stadium since the early hours of the morning, hoping to secure the best possible view of the action.

Sunday’s match still took place at the scheduled kick-off time, despite the tragedy.

Medical staff had to work hard to deal with all of the injuries (Image: AFP)

Around 20,000 fans crammed into the stadium – some not even getting a seat (Image: AFP)

Around 20,000 fans crammed into the venue to watch the 2-2 draw.

Despite being the star attraction on display, Mane did not find the net for Senegal.

Their goals were scored by Inter Milan’s Keita Balde Diao and Amiens’ Moussa Konate, but Carolus Andriamahitsinoro scored a late equaliser for the hosts.

Huge crowds came out of the AFCON qualifier match (Image: AFP)

Madagascar celebrate the goal which made the game 2-2 (Image: AFP)

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