A stampede at the Opening Ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games killed 12 and injured around 80, Madagascar Prime Minister Christian Ntsay has said.
The incident happened as fans were trying to enter Madagascar’s national stadium on Friday.
The Opening Ceremony went ahead despite the unfortunate incident, with Ntsay saying 11 of the injured were in critical condition.
A crowd of around 50,000 people arrived for the event.
The cause for the stampede is not clear yet.
“An unfortunate event happened,” President Andry Rajoelina was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“There was a stampede at the entrance.
“There were a lot of injuries.
“We will observe a few seconds of silence because compatriots have died when they wanted to enter.”
The multi-sport event was founded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1977, and include athletes from Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Réunion and the Maldives.
It is scheduled to conclude on September 3.
Red Cross workers can be seen carrying injured fans on videos shared on social media.
A similar event occurred at the Mahamasina Stadium in 2019 that killed at least 15 people.
The Opening Ceremony with laser show and fireworks took place despite the loss of lives.
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