Seven die in Congo stadium stampede

A crush in South Africa earlier this month killed 43

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured during a stampede at a football match in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Violence erupted on Sunday at a major league match in the south-eastern city of Lubumbashi after the losing team, Mazembe, equalised just 10 minutes before the end against rivals Lupopo.

This is the fault of the police. They shouldn't have fired tear gas at the people

Eyewitness

Witnesses said rival fans invaded the pitch and the police intervened with teargas to protect the players from attack, provoking a stampede.

People were trampled to death and asphyxiated in the ensuing crush, they added.

Mbala Musau, 28, watched his father get crushed to death. He told the Associated Press news agency that the police should not have used tear gas.

Information Minister Kikaya Bin Karubi described the events as the country's worst football disaster in living memory.

The stadium has a capacity of 40,000, but there were thought to be as many as 60,000 spectators for the match.

Lupopo and Mazembe are considered to be the top two teams in southern Congo.

The tragedy is the second soccer disaster in Africa this month.

On 11 April, a stampede killed 43 people at a stadium in the South African city of Johannesburg.