New Year's Eve Stadium stampede kills 60

Around the World 2012 was seen out in a blaze of New Year's Eve celebrations and firework displays. In one such event in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast, 60 people are believed to have been killed.

A 2012 New Year's Eve celebratory event turned into a humanitarian tragedy when a gathering near to the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, where the event was taking place, resulted in a stampede causing 60 deaths and injuring as many as 200 people. A large number of children are reported to have received crush injuries in the panic that ensued. People who fell to the ground were trampled over leaving a scene of carnage today. Bloodstains and remnants of footwear and clothing litter the area. There are reports that the injuries and deaths happened as people tried to enter the stadium. As is so often the case with these type on incidents there are now conflicting reports. According to the BBC the stampede happened as people were leaving the event to make their way home. This report has the number of injured at 250. Late on New Year's day the number of injured was reduced to 49. The official figures at the time were reported to be 60 dead including 26 children, 28 women and six men. At least two of those injured are in a serious condition. Details of what caused the tragedy are still unclear. A witness claimed that the security forces had created panic as they tried to break up the gathering, reported Reuters. As officials in the Ivory Coast announce a three-day period of mourning there are reports that the death toll has risen to 61. Investigations are continuing.