The Municipal Chief Executive for the Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly, Nurudeen Hamidan, has said the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), and other security agencies, are investigating circumstances that led to the death of nine ppeople in a stampede at Asawase in the Ashanti Region.
“The BNI are also on the ground picking intelligence for us,” Hamidan said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xYsiLXMCbFRjhAt552Ci3QAD8p669z1Y”]Nine persons died while six others got injured at the Asawase community centre, during a jam to climax the Eid-ul Fitr celebration.
Reports indicate that there were over 300 celebrants at the community centre.
Cause of Stampede
There are conflicting reports on the cause of the stampede but speaking to Citi News, the MCE, who is also the head of the Security Council in the area, said they will meet around 2:00pm today [Thursday] to discuss the matter.
“I went to the scene of the community centre. People are saying so many things. Some are saying that there was light out and the metre sparked and the sound of the metre made people agitated and others are saying that they finished the programme, they were leaving and there was a stampede along the way. As to what caused the actual stampede, the security agencies are working to unravel what happened and we will take it on from there. I have convened a municipal security meeting at 2pm today and we are going to look into the issue.”
He also said persons whose actions caused the stampede will be dealt with accordingly.
“When we meet, whatever decision that comes out we will make it known to the public but we want to say that if it was caused by an act of negligence or find anyone culpable in this issue, the person will be dealt with according to the laws of this country,” Hamidan added.
Rush to leave venue triggered stampede
Meanwhile, one of the survivors, Charles Amoah Boateng, said the rush to leave the centre triggered the stampede.
“The show started at around 9pm. It ended at about 2am. At that time, all the lights were off. And people were rushing to get out. Some of the doors were also locked. So we all got stuck at one entrance which was also not big enough,” he recalled.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Laurettah Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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