24 fatally crushed, 40 hurt in arena stampede

Press, 10 February 1981, Page 8

24 fatally crushed, 40 hurt in arena stampede

NZPA-Reuter Athens Twenty-four people were killed and more than 40 injured, many of them seriously, in a stampede after a first-division soccer match in a Piraeus stadium at the week-end, the Greek Minister of Social Services (Mr Spyridon Doiades) has saidThe Minister said most of the injured were taken to local hospitals which appealed to all doctors to report for duty and for blood donors to give blood plasma. The stampede occurred as about 2500 fans of home team, Olympiakos, rushed to leave the stadium to celebrate their team’s 6-0 win over A.E.K. of Athens. A police spokesman said all the fans headed for an exit gate, but massed in front of a small iron door leading to it. “Apparently a clerk failed to open the small iron door

and the fans massed in front of it. When the door was opened the fans surged forward and under the pressure the first fans fell down and hundreds of others stampeded on them,” he said.

“In the confusion which was created in the stampede, 24 were killed and tens of others injured. They were taken to the two Piraeus hospitals together with the dead,” the spokesman said, adding that many of the injured were in a serious condition.

The entire police force of Piraeus, Greece’s principal port situated on the outskirts of Athens, rushed to the scene to help. So far the police had not been able to issue a list of the dead and injured, but the spokesman said only one woman was thought to be among those killed. Hundreds of relatives of those who attended the

match gathered outside the two hospitals and many attempted to force their way into the wards to find out whether their relatives were among the dead or injured. The police detained the manager and clerks of the Karaiskakis . stadium for interrogation about the cause of the stampede. One eyewitness said hundreds of fans tumbled down stairs leading to the closed exit gate. The manager of Tzanion Hospital said the victims died from chest injuries and suffocation. The Greek Prime Minister (Mr George Rallis), who visited Tzanion Hospital, described the incident as the worst tragedy in Greek sports. Radio and television stations cancelled light entertainment programmes as a mark of respect for the dead.