
Nos scimus quoniam translati sumus de morte in vitam, quoniam diligimus fratres; qui non diligit, manet in morte. (1 John 3:14)
At least 22 people have died, and 132 are injured, in a crush at a football stadium during a World Cup qualifier in Ivory Coast, according to BBC.
Fans panicked after a wall collapsed at the Houphouet-Boigny arena in the West African country's largest city of Abidjan.
BBC's correspondent says the authorities tried in vain to control the panicking crowd. One report said the police had fired tear gas to control the stampeding fans.
The stadium was packed for the return of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who scored twice.
As many as 50.000 spectators were in the stadium, where hosts Ivory Coast beat Malawi 5-0.
The Ministry of Sport and the Ivorian Football Federation have confirmed the number of deaths and say the incident occurred when thousands of fans tried to squeeze into the city's main stadium.
The incident occurred before the game began but the fixture was allowed to go ahead.
The stadium was reportedly sold out in advance of the game after cut-price tickets were put on sale.
The arena has just been refurbished, but at this stage it seems the sheer number of people who wanted to get into the match proved too much.
Soccer is a wonderful sport, and the most widely played professional sport in the world.
At the same time soccer fans are the best fans in the world, so this is an immense tragedy.
"Quem Deus suscitavit, solutis doloribus inferni, iuxta quod impossibile erat teneri illum ab ea", Acts 2:24.



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