ICoast leader announces national mourning

Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo announced Monday three days of national mourning following a weekend stampede at Abidjan stadium that killed at least 19 fans before a World Cup football qualifier.

The mourning period will begin on Wednesday April 1, said Gbagbo's spokesman, reading out a statement on national television.

"During this period, flags will be at half-mast across the nation," read the spokesman, Gervais Coulibaly.

More than 130 people were injured in the chaos outside the 35,000-capacity stadium before Ivory Coast played against Malawi in a game that featured several stars from big European clubs, including Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

"Those responsible will be located very quickly and I am sure that sanctions will be taken," Ivorian Football Federation president Jacques Anouma told state television after attending a government crisis meeting.

Prime Minister Guillaume Soro called together top ministers, police and sports authorities to discuss the government's response to Sunday's deadly crush, amid accusations that the huge crowd was swelled by non-ticket holders who had bribed their way past security at the Houphouet-Boigny stadium.

Anouma said he was compiling a detailed report demanded by world football body FIFA.

Stewards working in and around the stadium said fans, desperate to see their European-based idols, forced their way through the gates and tumbled down the steps of the terracing inside to be crushed by those behind.

Many of the supporters had tickets and were angry at being refused entry, witnesses said, saying that the security forces had taken bribes to let many ticketless people into the match.

Scores of casualties were treated at the stadium as the match, attended by Gbagbo, went ahead and the worst injured were taken to the Treichville hospital in Abidjan and a military hospital.

The west African country's newspapers raised questions on Monday over why the match was allowed to continue as the disaster unfolded in the stands.

At least six of the injured were in a serious condition in hospital on Monday, the health ministry said.

Drogba decried the stampede as a "national tragedy" on Monday and said players did not know what happened until after the match.

"We only learned about it in the evening after the match," said the Chelsea striker, who scored twice in the home side's 5-0 win.

"We were shocked, stunned, when we found out there were deaths. We had difficulty understanding what had happened."

The 31-year-old striker said those responsible should be identified and lessons must be learned from the tragedy because "these are the kinds of things that are harming the development of football in Africa."

Meanwhile the families of the victims had the grim task of recovering the bodies of their loved ones from Abidjan's main morgue.

"The gates will open three hours before the matches kick-off and this is when fans will be expected to arrive."



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