The African Cup of Nations was struck by tragedy on Monday night. A deadly crush outside a stadium in Cameroon resulted in the death of at least eight, including one child. Many more were injured in the incident. Officials have warned that the final death toll may be much higher, with reports that a number of children lost consciousness.
Football fans were scrambling to gain access to the Paul Biya stadium in a neighbourhood of the capital city of Yaoundé, where hosts Cameroon were playing the Comoros Islands in the last 16 of the competition.
Covid restrictions meant that the stadium, which normally holds 60,000 people was limited to 80% capacity for the match. However, that did not prevent at least 50,000 trying to gain entrance.
Fans had gathered in a fan zone before the match. As kick-off time drew near, they converged on one gate, resulting in a crush.
Ambulances were dispatched to the scene, but those located in other parts of the stadium were unaware as to what had happened until reports began to appear on social media.
Subsequent footage revealed discarded shoes and other debris scattered on the ground around the entrance to the stadium.
The Confederation of African Nations have launched an urgent investigation on the exact course of events and their reasons. The Cameroon government, meanwhile, have started their own inquiry.
It marred what happened on the pitch, where Cameroon beat the tournament debutants 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
But despite all the odds being stacked against them, the Comoros Islands put up a creditable fight.
A bout of Covid-19 meant that they were without a recognised goalkeeper for the match, forcing left-back Chaker Alhadhur to play in goal instead.
To make matters worse, their captain was sent off after just six minutes, and that they were forced to play almost the entire match with just ten men.
But Alhadhur kept his side in the contest with some fine saves,until he was finally beaten by goals from Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar.
Comoros pulled a goal back through Youssouf M’Changama, but the match will ultimately be remembered for all the wrong reasons.