Liberia: UN mission expresses sadness at soccer stadium tragedy

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) today voiced its sadness at yesterday’s tragedy in which nine soccer fans died in a stadium crush during a World Cup qualifying match between Liberia and the Gambia.

“The mission wishes to express its condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and loved ones of the victims,” it said in a statement issued in Monrovia.

Media reports say that, as well as the fatalities, more than a dozen fans were injured because of the overcrowding at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex yesterday.

UNMIL staff plan to join Liberians tomorrow for a moment of silence in memory of those who died and to pray for the speedy recovery of the injured survivors.

The statement added that the mission is ready to assist any inquiry held into the deaths at the stadium.