The police in Sierra Leone has opened an investigation into the stampede that occurred during the weekend, at the inauguration of the new president, Julius Maada Bio.
Reports say the stampede caused the death of one woman and left 90 others injured.
According to a police statement, some arrests have been made but no one has been charged so far.
Abu-Bakr Tarawally, spokesman of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society on Monday updated the number of injured to 90 during the stampede at Freetown’s main stadium.
‘We can confirm that 90 people were injured at the stadium stampede on inauguration day, some suffered fractures, injuries with severe bleeding and suffocation’ his statement read in part.
The stadium management says over 50,000 people attended the inauguration which exceeded the stadium capacity of 45,000 and that was possibly part of the cause for the stampede. It added that some of the victims fainted and collapsed while the others jumped to the pitch and suffered multiple fractures.
The 50- year old woman killed in the stampede had travelled from Liberia to witness the new president, Julius Maada Bio being sworn in.
Bio took office in early April after winning a tightly contested election, ending a decade-long rule by the All People’s Congress (APC) party.
Photo Credit: africanews.com
