A stampede killed 12 soccer fans and injured more than 40 in northern Zambia as supporters left the stadium after Zambia beat Congo Brazzaville in a key match late on Saturday, police said on Sunday.
Copperbelt police chief Antonnell Mutentwa told Reuters 46 injured fans were admitted to hospital in Chililabombwe, a copper mining town bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 450km (280 miles) north of Lusaka.
Mutentwa said fans trampled each other underfoot as they rushed to leave the stadium after Zambia beat Congo Brazzaville 3-0 in an African Cup qualifier.
The cause of the stampede was not clear, but one witness said members of the crowd, larger than the stadium's capacity, crushed and trod on other fans as they rushed to catch free buses after the match.
Sports Minister Gabriel Namulambe said all but one of the injured had been discharged from hospital. A team of investigators would deliver a report on the incident by Friday.
"A team has been constituted to investigate the matter thoroughly because there are conflicting reports on what exactly transpired," Namulambe told Reuters.
"What happened is sad and was an unforeseen circumstance which has led to so much speculation. This (speculation) should be cleared by Friday when the investigation will be over and we will issue a report to the nation."
He said the state would help families of the victims with funeral requirements, including transport and coffins.
Zambia had to beat Congo in Chililabombwe to revive its hopes of qualifying for the final rounds of the competition in Ghana. The government has declared its largest stadium, in the capital Lusaka, unfit to host international matches.
A witness told Reuters by telephone from the nearby town of Kitwe that the stampede occurred when fans began to rush for buses which had been provided to ferry supporters from other parts of the mineral-rich region.
Fans had crammed into the 40,000 capacity Konkola Stadium, some standing and sitting on the boundary fence and others on the edge of the pitch, the witness said.
"The security closed one gate just before the end of the match. So when it was opened, a number of people were already panicking and trying to leave the stadium. I saw many people being stepped on as others pushed their way out," a journalist who had covered the match added.
Although Zambia is a soccer-loving nation, it has only two big stadiums for hosting international matches, forcing fans to use every available space in the stadium to watch games.
In 1997, 10 soccer fans died in a similar tragedy at the Independence Stadium in Lusaka after Zambia beat Sudan 3-0 in a World Cup qualifying match. That disaster was caused by a supporter who told other fans a bomb was about to explode in the stadium.
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