Iraq football stadium stampede leaves at least 1 dead, 60 injured

BASRA, Iraq (AA/AFP) – At least one person was killed and 60 others were injured in a stampede at a stadium in Basra, southern Iraq, on Thursday.

The crush took place outside the Jaza’a Al Nakhla Stadium, ahead of the final of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

Medical officials confirmed that some of the injured are in critical condition, the report said.

Long banned from hosting international football matches, war-torn Iraq had been counting on the Gulf Cup to burnish its image but it has already been forced to apologise for organisational lapses.

Thousands of fans, many without tickets, had gathered outside the stadium in Iraq’s main southern city of Basra since dawn in the hope of watching the final between Iraq and Oman, which was due to kick off at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT).

An AFP photographer inside the stadium said the turnstiles were still closed when the stampede broke out. Sirens blared as ambulances arrived to ferry the injured to hospital.

Images posted on social media showed a sea of people outside the stadium.

The army called on the fans to heed the instructions of security force personnel on access to the stadium to allow the championship to be “wrapped up in a civilised fashion that does honour to Iraq”.

Iraq has been the scene of deadly stampedes in the past, most recently in Karbala during the Ashura commemorations of 2019, when 31 people died.

The tournament also drew thousands of foreign fans who crossed from neighbouring Kuwait.

Despite Iraq’s determination to prove it can safely host international sports, the tournament has been plagued by logistical difficulties that have seen fans with tickets as well as accredited journalists turned away.

Iraq was forced to apologise to its neighbour Kuwait after a scuffle in the VIP section prevented its leader’s representative from attending the opening ceremony.