Eleven people were killed in a stampede at a packed concert headlined by African music star Fally Ipupa.
The concert was held at the biggest stadium in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, the country’s interior minister said.
“Eleven people dead … including two police,” the minister told reporters at the stadium, sending condolences to relatives of the casualties.
He said he deplored the “loss of human life” and said the organizers “must be punished”.
The police chief, General Sylvain Sasongo, confirmed the incident to official press agency ACP on Sunday.
He said: “There were eight deaths including one police officer.”
The Martyrs’ stadium has an 80,000 capacity and reports said it was absolutely full for the local favourite, with one witness saying “even the corridors” of the stadium were overflowing.
“It was a stampede,” that caused the deaths, a policeman on the scene told the official Congolese Press Agency. “The music lovers suffocated.”
The agency, which had reporters in the stadium covering the concert, said police had cordoned off three areas to secure the pitch, the VIP stand and the stage.
“Under the pressure of the crowd, the police could not hold out long,” ACP said.
Security forces had earlier fired tear gas to disperse violent crowds in the streets outside the stadium where many had gathered before the concert by Kinshasa-born Ipupa.
The 44-year-old is one of Africa’s leading musicians whose albums sell worldwide.
The music star, “like all Congolese singers”, has arrived several hours after the show had been scheduled to start, the agency noted.
The eventual number of attendees inside the stadium vastly exceeded the number of state and private security personnel present could control.
Kinshasa police chief General Sylvain Sasongo had earlier told ACP nine people had died, amid reports the venue had been jammed with people for the local favourite’s performance, with one witness saying “even the corridors” of the stadium were overflowing.
