Binance Charity is donating $160,000 USD (over 90 Million FCFA) to provide relief to the families of eight victims who passed away following a stampede crush at the Stade Olembé in Yaoundé before an Africa Cup Of Nations game in Cameroon on January 24th, 2022.
The incident occurred during the Cameroon-Comoros match held at the Olembé stadium in Yaoundé and left 8 dead – including two boys, aged eight and 14 – and 38 injured.
Binance Charity and Binance Africa donations will provide the families with financial relief and aid towards funeral costs and living expenses following the deaths of their loved ones.
“We express our sincere condolences to all victims and families who were affected by the tragedy. As one of the sponsors of the AFCON 2021 tournaments and as humans, it was an extremely heartbreaking incident and we want to do our part to help the victims’ families. A death in a family can cause monetary problems for those who are left, whether short or long term. As such, while we cannot heal the hurt, we will continue to offer all our support and we encourage other sponsors to do the same.” said Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity.
The Crash
At least eight people died and 38 were injured in a crash outside a stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations soccer game in Cameroon, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.
The crash happened as crowds struggled to get access to Olembe Stadium in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde to watch the host country play Comoros Islands in a last-16 knockout game in Africa’s top football tournament.
Witnesses at the stadium said children were among those caught up in the crush. The witnesses said it happened when stadium stewards closed the gates and stopped allowing people in.
By 12:15 a.m. local time on Monday, all injured people at the stadium had left for the hospital, officials said.
“Some of the injured are in desperate condition,” said Olinga Prudence, a nurse at the nearby Messassi hospital. “We will have to evacuate them to a specialized hospital.”
Officials said about 50,000 people had tried to attend the match. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000, but it was not meant to be more than 80% full for the game because of restrictions on the size of the crowd amid the coronavirus pandemic.
