22 killed at stampede at match in Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A stampede at a World Cup qualifying soccer match in the Ivory Coast killed at least 22 people and wounded 132 Sunday, the Minister of the Interior announced on state TV.
Desire Tagro said fans pushed against each other, setting off a panic that led to the stampede at the game between the Ivory Coast and Malawi.
"Lots of fans showed up," Tagro said. "They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in."
An Associated Press photographer said people began shoving and pushing 40 minutes before the beginning of the game at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny arena. Police fired tear gas into one section of the crowd.
Ollo Kambire, a reporter for "Super Sport," a daily newspaper focusing on sports, said that a wall collapsed under the weight of the fans as they pushed toward the field. "We saw people falling. ... Then there was panic and a stampede," he said.
Ivory Coast won the match 5-0.
There have been a number of stampedes at Africa's crowded stadiums. Badly equipped security forces are far outnumbered and are often unable to control the voluminous crowds.
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the disaster occurred at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.  A stadium disaster has claimed well over a dozen lives in the Ivory Coast. A crush, which may have occurred after a wall collapse, took place today at the  in  and according to interior minister  killed 22 people and wounded 132 others.

Different sources put the dead at 19. "We have 19 dead and many seriously injured," a member of the military told ''''. The Sports Minister gave this version of events: "Spectators who did not buy tickets were jostling before the match. They smashed one of the main gates of the stadium. They were trampled." Tagro also said that fans trying to get in were crushed.

According to '''', a wall collapse caused the fatalities while the injured were hurt when pushing spectators caused a panic which became a stampede. 50,000 people had turned up to watch a qualifying match for the football  between  and . The ''Associated Press'' also said that police used tear gas in an effort to control the crowd.

The match was sold out due to low-price tickets. The game went ahead despite the pre-match incident and the Ivory Coast side won 5-0.