Dozens Killed in Deadly Clashes at Football Match in Guinea
Dozens of people were killed on Sunday following violent clashes between fans during a football match in N’Zerekore, Guinea’s second-largest city. Hospital sources described harrowing scenes of carnage.
“There are bodies lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital. Others are lying on the floor in the hallways. The morgue is full,” a doctor told AFP on condition of anonymity, estimating the death toll to be around 100. Another medical source confirmed “dozens of dead.”
Videos circulating on social media, though unverified, depict chaos outside the stadium and numerous bodies lying in the streets. Witnesses reported that angry demonstrators vandalized and set fire to the local police station in N’Zerekore.
According to eyewitness accounts, the violence erupted after fans invaded the pitch following a controversial referee decision. The match was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader, Mamadi Doumbouya, who took power in a 2021 coup and now serves as the country’s president.
Tournaments of this kind have become a political tool in Guinea, where Doumbouya is reportedly preparing for a potential presidential bid in elections expected next year. Despite an initial pledge to transition power to a civilian government by 2024, Doumbouya has signaled intentions to retain control.
Since seizing power from President Alpha Conde in 2021, Doumbouya has elevated himself from colonel to army general and has overseen a crackdown on dissent, with many opposition figures arrested, exiled, or silenced.
Guinea, despite its wealth of natural resources, remains mired in poverty and political instability. N’Zerekore, a city of about 200,000 people, now mourns the tragic loss of lives in this latest eruption of violence.
