2013 Houphouët-Boigny stampede

2013 human crush at a stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

This article may be excessively based on contemporary reporting. Please use newer secondary sources; articles on events that lack lasting impact may be merged, redirected, or deleted. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

2013 Houphouët-Boigny stampede

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium
location of the stampede

Date| 1 January 2013 (2013-01-01)
Location| Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Coordinates| 5°19′41.7″N 4°1′6.3″W﻿ / ﻿5.328250°N 4.018417°W﻿ / 5.328250; -4.018417
Cause| Stampede
Deaths| 61
Non-fatal injuries| 200

The 2013 Houphouët-Boigny stampede was a crowd crush that occurred as crowds departed a New Year's Eve fireworks display in the early hours of 1 January 2013 near the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It resulted in 61 deaths and over 200 injuries, mostly women and children. This was the second time in four years that a fatal crush incident occurred at the stadium.

President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning and promised an investigation.

## Incident

[edit]

At some time between 1 and 4 am according to sources,[1][2] following the New Year's Eve celebration and fireworks display, crowds surged as they exited the stadium into the Boulevard de la République near the Hotel Tirama.[3] This was the second year that fireworks had been held by the government to commemorate the end of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis and the Second Ivorian Civil War, following the controversial 2010 presidential election.[3] According to official reports, 61 individuals were killed,[4] with upwards of 200 injured.[4] According to Alain Lobognon, the Minister of Youth, 26 children were among the dead,[2] most of whom were between the ages of 8 and 15,[3][5] as well as 28 women and six men.[2]

## Investigation and reaction

[edit]

The cause of the disaster is not yet clear, however a senior police spokesman has confirmed they are investigating.[5] Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako, the officer in charge of the military responding to the incident, said that the deaths were caused when "people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd".[6] According to an Ivorian government official, approximately "50,000 people [were] on the streets ... going home" after the New Year's celebrations.[7] Witnesses have alternatively claimed that two large crowds moving in opposite directions collided, and that security forces attempting to break up the crowd leaving the stadium caused a panic.[8]

Visiting the injured in hospital, President Alassane Ouattara said that the national tragedy would be investigated.[8] Minister of the Interior Hamed Bakayoko stated in a national television broadcast on Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne that "the government extends its condolences to the families of those deceased and assures them of its solidarity" and that the Ivorian government would help by "all means possible."[2] Bakayoko went on to say that "the precise circumstances of this tragic occurrence are being looked into by the security services".[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Crowd collapses and crushes
* Stampede#Human stampedes and crushes

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bakayoko, Inza (1 January 2013). "61 killed in New Year's stampede in Abidjan, Ivory Coast". Associated Press. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
2. ^ a b c d Halasz, Stephanie; Laura Smith-Spark (1 January 2013). "60 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede, minister says". CNN. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
3. ^ a b c "61 killed in New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast". Fox News. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
4. ^ a b Bakayoko, Inza (1 January 2013). "Stampede After Fireworks Kills 61 in Ivory Coast". Time. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
5. ^ a b "Ivory Coast new year stampede kills dozens in Abidjan". BBC. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
6. ^ "Scores killed in Ivory Coast stampede". Al Jazeera. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
7. ^ a b Nossiter, Adam (1 January 2013). "Stampede at New Year's Celebration Kills Dozens in Ivory Coast". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
8. ^ a b "Scores killed in Ivory Coast fireworks stampede". The Guardian. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.

* v
* t
* e

Crowd collapses and crushes

List of fatal crowd crushes

19th c.|

* 1807 Newgate Prison
* 1823 Valletta
* 1876 Brooklyn Theatre
* 1883 Victoria Hall
* 1896 Khodynka

20th c.|

* 1902 Shiloh Baptist Church
* 1903 Iroquois Theatre
* 1908 Barnsley Hall
* 1913 Italian Hall
* 1927 Laurier Palace
* 1943 Bethnal Green
* 1946 Burnden Park
* 1953 Moscow
* 1954 Kumbh Mela
* 1956 Yahiko Shrine
* 1964 Estadio Nacional
* 1965 El Progreso Bullring
* 1967 Atatürk Stadium
* 1971 Ibrox
* 1974 Zamalek
* 1977 Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm
* 1979 The Who concert
* 1981 Karaiskakis Stadium
* 1982 Luzhniki
* 1985 Heysel Stadium
* 1987 Shanghai Lujiazui
* 1988 Dasharath Stadium
* 1989 Tbilisi
* 1989 Hillsborough
* 1990 Mecca
* 1991 Oppenheimer Stadium
* 1992 Mahamaham
* 1992 Bastia
* 1993 Lan Kwai Fong
* 1994 Mecca
* 1994 Gowari
* 1996 Haridwar and Ujjain
* 1997 Uphaar Cinema
* 1998 Mecca
* 1999 Sabarimala
* 1999 Nyamiha (Minsk)

2000s|

* 2000 Durban
* 2001 Mecca
* 2001 Ellis Park Stadium
* 2001 Accra Sports Stadium
* 2001 Akashi pedestrian bridge
* 2003 E2 nightclub
* 2003 The Station nightclub
* 2004 Mecca
* 2004 Miyun
* 2005 Mandher Devi temple
* 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge
* 2005 Chennai (November)
* 2005 Chennai (December)
* 2006 Mecca
* 2006 PhilSports Stadium
* 2008 Bandung
* 2008 Naina Devi temple
* 2008 Jodhpur
* 2009 Houphouët-Boigny
* 2009 Mawazine

2010s|

* 2010
* Kor Royal Cup
* Pratapgarh
* Love Parade
* Phnom Penh
* 2011 Sabarimala
* 2012
* Port Said Stadium
* Satsanga Deoghar
* 2013 Houphouët-Boigny
* Kiss nightclub
* Kumbh Mela
* Madhya Pradesh
* 2014
* Mumbai
* Stade Tata Raphaël
* Patna
* Multan
* Kwekwe
* Shanghai Bund
* 2015
* 30 June Stadium
* Haiti
* Mina
* Colectiv nightclub
* 2017
* Turin
* Mumbai
* 2018
* Caracas
* Corinaldo
* 2019
* Antananarivo
* Karbala
* Caracas

2020s|

* 2020
* Kerman
* Maligawatta
* Los Olivos
* 2021
* Meron
* Astroworld Festival
* 2022
* Vaishno Devi Temple
* Yaoundé
* Port Harcourt
* GBLA Stadium
* Giza
* Kanjuruhan Stadium
* Seoul
* 2023
* Basra International Stadium
* Pakistan
* Sanaa
* San Salvador
* Brazzaville
* 2024
* Hathras
* Mumbai
* Nzérékoré
* Ibadan
* 2025
* Prayagraj
* New Delhi
* Bengaluru
* Bangui

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template