AFCON: 8 People Reported Dead after a Fatal Crush at Cameroon Stadium

Video footage showed football fans struggling to get access to the Paul Biya stadium in a neighborhood of the capital Yaounde.

One child is among the dead, according to a health ministry report obtained by the AFP news agency.

The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but because of Covid restrictions, it was not meant to be more than 80% full.

Match officials were quoted as saying that some 50,000 people were trying to attend.

According to BBC Journalist Leocadia Bongben, she saw the commotion coming from one of the "fan zone" areas outside the stadium.

"People started shouting. A minute after that an ambulance came to the stadium, but when we got to the place the police would not allow us to get close to where the stampede was," she said.

She had received a list of eight people who lost their lives, she said.

"It's really quite a sad situation that people go to watch a game and they end up dying there."

Lots of discarded shoes and other debris were strewn around the entrance of the stadium, he said. Nurse Olinga Prudence told AP that some of the injured were in a "desperate condition".

The Confederation of African Football, CAF said in a statement that it is "currently investigating the situation and trying to get more details on what transpired".

The last 16 matches between Cameroon and Comoros took place despite the incident and ended with a 2-1 win for the hosts.