Five people die at Children’s Day tragedy in Maputo

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Five people die at Children’s Day tragedy in Maputo

1:33 CAT | 03 Jun 2019

Photo: TVM

Five people were killed, two of them minors, at the door of a Children’s Day celebration in Maputo on Saturday.

The incident resulted in “the fall of people at the exit gate and by the drainage ditch near the road, where people fell on top of each other,” Maputo police spokesman Leonel Muchina said, quoted by the newspaper O País.

Three adults, aged 75, 60 and 45, and two children, aged seven and 12, lost their lives.

The incident was reportedly caused by a car accident which took place near the entrance of the Aqua Park, Maputo, venue, where a party with performances by several musicians was taking place. At the same time, there was traffic congestion outside the venue, which caused a sudden movement of the crowd, a source from the organisation told the Mozambique Information Agency (AIM).

Police say that between 15,000 and 20,000 people were in the area, while the organisers, Lizha Só Festas, say the number was closer to 8,500.

The company has reserved comment pending a full investigation, and cancelled a show scheduled for the same location yesterday, June 2, postponing it to a date yet to be announced.

A Lizha Só Festas communique cited by O País says the organisers “lament the tragedy” but note that it happened outside the enclosure they were responsible for. According to a clarification note, the circumstances in which the deaths occurred are being investigated by the authorities.