The Ellis Park Stadium disaster happened today 16 years ago
Today marks the 16 year anniversary of the Ellis Park Disaster which claimed the lives of 43 soccer fans.
On 11 April 2001, a soccer game between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park Stadium became the site of South Africa’s worst sporting tragedy.
43 soccer fans died during a stampede at the Johannesburg stadium because of overcrowding.
158 people were also injured when 80 000 supporters tried to cram into a 60 000-seater venue on the fatal Wednesday.
An inquiry blamed stadium organisers, fans, league officials, police and private security guards for a combination of events – from bad planning to graft – that led to the disaster.
Fans, media outlets and sporting bodies took to Twitter to commemorate the tragic event on its 16 year anniversary under the hashtag #EllisPark43.
On this day in 2001•At least 43 people were killed in a stampede at Ellis Park•The beautiful game turned into a tragedy #EllisPark43 #RIP pic.twitter.com/qO4rC4SUnU
— AB Dacosta (@AB_Broadcaster) April 11, 2017
Remembering the #EllisPark43… 🌹 pic.twitter.com/suq7JwQCvg
— Soccer Laduma (@Soccer_Laduma) April 11, 2017
The pictures paint a grim picture of the disaster:
The names of the victims who passed away will always be remembered:
This raw footage of the disaster shows the devastating extent of the stampede:
