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: