Seventeen killed in stampede at football stadium in Angola

The accident happened in the northwestern town of Uige when hundreds of people rushed at one of the stadium gates. Photo / Tekassala Toco Facebook

A stampede at a football stadium in Angola left at least 17 people dead and dozens injured.

The accident happened in the northwestern town of Uige when hundreds of people rushed at one of the stadium gates, causing some to fall and be trampled underfoot, according to Angolan and Portuguese media.

"There was a blockage at the entrance to the January 4 stadium... this obstruction caused multiple fatalities -17 deaths, and there are 56 injured in the hospital," police spokesman Orlando Bernardo told AFP.

Some of the dead were children who suffocated in the stampede, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said.

Panic spread at the match between Santa Rita de Cassia and Recreativo de Libolo in Angola's domestic league season.

"While the players were on the field, outside fans were trying to get into the stadium and a gate probably gave way to the pressure of the crowd causing several people to fall who were literally trampled on by the crowd," said the Recreativo de Libolo club in a statement on its website.

"There are already 17 confirmed dead and at least 59 wounded... (this was) a tragedy without precedent in the history of Angolan football."

Some witnesses said many fans did not have tickets to the match, while other reports said that spectators inside the stadium were not aware of the stampede until it was over.

Angola, ranked 148 in the FIFA world rankings, is a minor power in African football.

There were an unknown number of children among the dead, and that hospitals were treating those injured. Photo / Tekassala Toco Facebook

The country has been relatively closed to the outside world under the authoritarian President Jose Eduardo dos Santos who has ruled since 1979.

The Angolan President expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, and instructed officials to assist the injured and open an investigation, Angop reported.

Football has a tragic history of stampedes and stadium deaths, often blamed on lack of crowd control, dangerous venues and spectator behaviour.

In 2009, poor crowd control in Abidjan caused 19 deaths before a 2010 World Cup qualifier between hosts Ivory Coast and Malawi.

A stampede at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana in 2001 resulted in 127 deaths.

At that game, supporters angered by their team's defeat threw projectiles and broke chairs. Police threw tear-gas grenades, triggering a stampede.

In May 1964, 320 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured during a stampede at a Peru-Argentina match at Lima's National Stadium. Fans could not escape the crush and were trampled or asphyxiated.

Britain renovated its football grounds after 56 people died in a fire in a wooden stand in 1985 and 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final in 1989.

- AP, AFP