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Howling Calabar football fans ignored first warning before tragedy struck
Football fans watching the game between Manchester United and Anderlecht at a viewing centre in Calabar on Thursday, April 20, got a warning before the tragic incident
- Contrary to several reports on the number of casualties, the Cross River state police command insisted that only seven people died
- Reports claim that at least 30 people lost their lives after high tension electricity cable fell on the roof of a football viewing centre
Football fans watching the game between Manchester United and Anderlecht at a viewing center in Calabar on Thursday, April 20, got a warning before the tragic incident, Pulse Nigeria reports.
Philipconcept Blog gathered that contrary to several reports on the number of casualties, the Cross River state police command insisted that only seven people died.
An eyewitness, the high tension cable first fell on top of the viewing center which saw all the viewers rush outside but nothing happened.
Some fans, however, went back inside to complete the game before the second incident happened that killed and injured several people.
The eyewitness said: “I was watching a match between Man United and Anderlecht around 8 in the evening and while we are still watching the match we had a sign that the high tension and electricity were sparking and one of the cables fell on top of the roof of the viewing centre.”
“People rushed out for their dear lives and that first instance there was no casualty. I was the person that leave the viewing centre last.
“Along the line, the people who were watching the match demanded that the generator should be on for them to complete their match and the owner of the viewing centre did the same.
“People going back again into the view centre and around 15 minutes or 10 minutes thereabout, NEPA restored the light again, as NEPA restored the light again, compacting with the generator and the high tension on top of the roof, the thing got sparked again and people rushed again to save their lives along the line they were trapped at the door post by the NEPA light.”
Earlier, Philipconcept Blogs had reported that Ukah Timothy, one of the survivors of the Calabar incident, is gave praises to God to be alive to narrate his story.
Premier League club Manchester United has sent a condolence message to supporters of the club, their friends and families who were affected by the tragedy in Calabar, on Thursday, April 20.
In a post on the team's official Twitter handle, Manchester United expressed grief over the tragic accident.
