GRi in Parliament
Ghana 11 - 05 - 2001
A sad day on the Parliamentary calendar
Parliament suspends sittings to mourn with stadium
disaster victims
A sad day on the Parliamentary
calendar
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 May 2001
It is most unusual for the Parliament of Ghana to abandon its
scheduled daily business but on Thursday, it had to do so for a bigger debate
outside its chambers.
The sixty members, about half the number of those who slammed to
their death in the nation's worse football disaster, suspended sitting after
spending ten minutes and headed for the various hospitals where both the
wounded and the dead were kept.
Ghanaians, especially, Accra Metropolitan dwellers could not
afford a nap throughout Wednesday as horrifying tales of death, exhaustion,
injury and anxiety pinned almost every piece of news that made the rounds.
Papa Owusu Ankoma, the Deputy Majority Leader described the
incident as "a tragedy of indescribable proportions."
He told his fellow lawmakers, " let's support the wounded
and after that we would work to make sure that it does happen again".
Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker, who had lost interest of
moderating business in the House, called for an early adjournment detailing
members to accompany him to the various hospitals.
"I do not ever remember a tragedy of this magnitude in my
whole lifetime." he said.
Long queues of grief stricken people waiting patiently to
identify their dead at the 37 Military Hospital morgue, where some 106 corpses
lay, met the Speaker's convoy.
Everyone had been caught in the "search for your dead or
living" syndrome with some sadly satisfied while others still wandering
about.
Anti-police sentiments had reached a high pitch as the military
struggled tirelessly to control the mix of irate and sad crowd.
Women who might either be mothers or sisters and men who had
just shed off
fatherhood, wailed and searched for unseen persons.
Survivors told tales of horror with many swearing to shun soccer
for the rest of their lives.
Yaw Aboagye, 23, told the GNA at the 37 Military hospital that
" this was my first time of entering the stadium and it is going to be my
last."
Aboagye, like many others made the jubilant trip from Kumasi to
cheer up Asante Kotoko only to suffer as a tragedy.
Military men and women said they have been overwhelmed by the
disaster, never seen or heard in war or in peace in the country.
"I have never seen such a large pack of human bodies in my
whole life. This is the first time we are handling a situation where there are
more deaths than injuries." Brigadier Dan Twum, Military Medical Director
said.
As Speaker's convoy made its way back to the precincts of
Parliament amid debate and wrangling, Accra Sports Stadium stood still at a
distance seemingly pleading not guilty to a charge and tragedy Ghanaians would
always remember with tears.
GRi…/
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Parliament suspends sittings to
mourn with stadium disaster victims
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 May 2001
Parliament suspended its normal sittings on Thursday to mourn
and sympathise with the victims of the Accra Sports Stadium disaster in which
about 126 are confirmed dead.
The House, which observed a minute's silence in memory of the
victims, said the day is one of the darkest in the history of association
football not only in Ghana but all over the world.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Deputy Majority Leader, said the
calamity occurred as a result of a league match between the two glamorous clubs
in the country - Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
He called on Members of the House to join in extending their
condolences to the bereaved families and those who were injured during the
stampede.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah recounted recent similar tragedies, which
occurred in Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo in
recent weeks, which should have guided the sports authorities to institute
efficient security measures to avert such an occurrence.
He said the President views the incident as a national disaster
and has convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the next course of
action.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah urged Ghanaians to act as one people in this
time of mourning and learn lessons from what has happened.
He said an enquiry into the incident is to be instituted and it
behoves all to resolve that never again would such an occurrence be allowed to
happen again.
He commended all those, who volunteered in various ways in
conveying the injured and dead to the hospitals as well as the zeal and duty
consciousness of the medical staff.
Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, a Ranking member of the House Committee on
Youth and
Sports, said the incident was unfortunate in view of the fact
that the leaders of the clubs took steps to prevent such a disaster from
happening.
He suggested the use of both the military and police to ensure a
well co-ordinated security at the stadiums.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey called for the
constitution of a delegation made up of Ranking members, Chairman and members
of the Committee on Youth and Sports and the Clerk of Parliament as well as
other members to visit the hospitals.
At the 37 Military Hospital, Brig Dan Twum, Director of Medical
Services, who briefed the delegation, said there are 54 patients on admission
with 106 bodies at the mortuary.
Brig. Twum said due to the trauma the people are going through
in identifying their relatives, a counselling unit has been set up to assist
members of the bereaved families.
He said help has been received from institutions, Doctors from
other hospitals, medical students and nurses as well as food supplies from a
number of food chains to alleviate the sufferings of those on admission.
He said post-mortem would have to be performed on all the
corpses before embalming to wait for further instructions from government as to
when to release the bodies for burial.
The Director appealed to the bereaved families to exercise
restraint in their demands for the release of the dead bodies and to stop
harassing them since the hospital cannot on its own release them for burial.
Dr Eric Asamoah, Acting Medical Superintendent of the Ridge
Hospital, thanked the delegation for its concern and visit to sympathise with
the victims and said the hospital staff was committed to ensuring the early
recovery of the injured.
Mr Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the delegation
said they share the concern and anguish of all the families and victims and
wish to express their concern on the high death toll, saying it is an occasion
for national mourning.
The Speaker said the incident was a national tragedy, which is
of indescribable proportion and that measures should immediately be instituted
to avert future recurrence.
"Parliament as a representative of the people is naturally
concerned and is united in expressing its sorrows and sympathises with the
bereaved families and wish to share in the agony and anguish of all"
Mr Adjetey said after the completion of investigations into the
incident, steps should be taken to stop such a calamity from ever occurring
again and gave the assurance that Parliament would support any measures to
prevent such from happening.
The delegation also visited the Police hospital.
GRi…/
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