Fans watching the Europa League game between Manchester United and Anderlecht at a viewing centre in Calabar on Thursday, April 20 got a ...
Fans watching the Europa League game between Manchester United and Anderlecht at a viewing centre in Calabar on Thursday, April 20 got a warning before some of them were electrocuted.
Several lives were lost-local reports suggest 30 while Cross River State Police Command insist only seven people died- when a high tension cable fell inside the viewing centre.
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| Eye witness |
Some fans, however, went back inside to complete the game before the second incident happened that killed and injured several people.
I was watching a match between Man United and Anderlecht around 8 in the evening and while we are still watching the match we had a sign that the high tension and electricity were sparking and one of the cables fell on top of the roof of the viewing centre,” an unnamed witness told Pulse Sport.
“People rushed out for their dear lives and that first instance there was no casualty. I was the person that leave the viewing centre last.
“Along the line, the people who were watching the match demanded that the generator should be on for them to complete their match and the owner of the viewing centre did the same.
“People going back again into the view centre and around 15 minutes or 10 minutes thereabout, NEPA restored the light again, as NEPA restored the light again, compacting with the generator and the high tension on top of the roof, the thing got sparked again and people rushed again to save their lives along the line they were trapped at the door post by the NEPA light.Another witness who spoke to Pulse Sports believes that about 30 people died from the tragedy but revealed that that number has not been confirmed.
About 30 people have been confirmed dead, though it is yet to be confirmed by the various hospitals that those people were rushed to,” another witness told Pulse Sport.Following the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari released a statement expressing his shock and sadness over the tragedy.
From the football world, Manchester United, FIFA and the Nigeria Football Federation have all sent condolences messages to the families of the victims
FIFA is deeply saddened by the deaths of several football fans in Calabar & offer our deepest condolences to family & friends of the victims— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) April 21, 2017
Our thoughts and prayers go out to football fans who died while watching a Europa League game at a viewing centre yesterday in Calabar— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) April 21, 2017
Our thoughts go out to the United fans, their friends and families affected by the tragedy in Calabar, Nigeria, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/WGnHAxpjMV— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 21, 2017
Our heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Cross River State, on the viewing center tragedy in Calabar yesterday pic.twitter.com/9wLKP52cdR— Govt of Nigeria (@AsoRock) April 21, 2017
