Two dead, dozens injured in stampede at Gulf Cup in Iraq’s Basra

The crowd is seen at Basra International Stadium

At least two people have been killed and dozens injured in a stampede at a stadium in Basra, southern Iraq, ahead of the Arabian Gulf Cup final.

The Iraqi interior ministry told Al Jazeera that two people had died and about 80 have been in injured in the stampede on Thursday, reports Al Jazeera.

Some of those injured were in critical condition, the official Iraqi News Agency quoted a medical source as saying.

Hosts Iraq are set to face Oman in the final of the eight-nation Arabian Gulf Cup at 7pm (16:00 GMT) on Thursday.

Thousands of fans without tickets had gathered outside the stadium since dawn in the hope of watching the rare home international match.

An AFP photographer inside the stadium said the turnstiles were still closed when the stampede broke out. Sirens blared as ambulances arrived to ferry the injured to hospital.

Images posted on social media showed a sea of people outside the stadium.

Journalist Ismael Adnan, reporting from near the stadium, described the situation as “very chaotic”. He said it remained unclear if the final would go ahead.

Football fan Moumen Adnan described to Al Jazeera how he got injured during the incident outside the stadium.

“I did not expect such chaos to happen. Because of the stampede, I fell and injured my hand,” he said. “I hadn’t been able to enter the stadium, but because of the stampede I entered through the journalists’ gate. I don’t expect the final to take place under these difficult circumstances.”

Iraq’s Interior Ministry in a statement urged people who don’t have tickets for the final match to leave the stadium area. It said that the stadium is full and all gates have been closed.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed reporting from Basra said some people without tickets tried to push in order to enter the stadium, according to sources at the stadium’s security.

“Security has been calling for people to refrain from pushing at the gate. Meanwhile the prime minister arrived in Basra and has met with officials of Basra to look into the incident. He is calling on the fans to cooperate with security at the stadium,” Abdelwahed said.

“According to the Iraqi Football Federation, about 90 percent of the tickets were already sold ahead of the kick off,” Abdelwahed said, adding that this upset many Iraqi football fans, some of whom had traveled across several provinces to attend the game.

Soccer fans attempt to enter the Basra International Stadium to watch the final match of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup between Iraq and Oman, in Basra, Iraq January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Aty NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Football fans attempt to enter the Basra International Stadium to watch the final match of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup between Iraq and Oman, in Basra, Iraq [Mohammed Aty/Reuters]

Sajjad Ahmed, 17, from Diwaniyah in southern Iraq, told Al Jazeera she had gone to the stadium with a friend.

“We reached the gates at 8am. The situation was [difficult] due to the amount of fans wanting to entering the stadium,” she said sitting on the ground. “The gates were closed, at about 12:30,” she added.

“If I had known that this would happen, I would not have come.”

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Jasim lines reporting from Basra said there were more than 60,000 spectators outside the stadium.

“Thousands arrived since yesterday night and some slept on the streets, causing road closures and many security forces came to control the crowds,” Jasim said.

Major General Saad Maan, director of media and public relations at the ministry urged people not to head to the stadium unless they have tickets for the match.

“The numbers of fans are very large, and we do not want there to be cases of suffocation,” he said in a statement.

The Iraqi Ministry of Sports also called on fans to retreat from areas around the stadium because the crowds were hindering the hosting of the final match.

According to the Basra governor, the final match may be postponed or held in another country.

Iraq was already forced to apologise to its neighbour Kuwait after a scuffle in the VIP section prevented its leader’s representative from attending the opening ceremony earlier this month.

The tournament started on January 6, with teams from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — as well as Yemen and Iraq.

It’s the first time since 1979 that Iraq has hosted the tournament. Decades of sanctions on Iraq had prevented the country from hosting any sport activities.

Abdelwahed said tens of thousands of people had arrived from abroad, putting “more pressure on the already weak infrastructure of the city.

“The authorities say they are lucky to host such special event, but the city is not as fully prepared as it should be. Basra has been suffering from several problems in past decades such a lack of services, security vacuums and a lot of conflicts even recently.”

Abdelwahed said that the central government in Baghdad has not made any development plans for Basra, “despite the fact that Basra is a rich city – 70 percent of Iraqi oil [comes from here]; it is still suffering and it’s partly marginalised.”