General News of Thursday, 7 July 2016
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Muntaka Mubarak
Organisers of deadly Salah carnival at Asawasi in the Ashanti Region ignored basic safety precautions, Member of Parliament of the area has said.
According to Muntaka Mubarak, the Community Centre, an old relic, had a capacity of 500 people but the total number of Salah celebrants, partying the night away were way above the approved capacity.
Nine people died with a dozen others sustaining varying degrees of injuries in a stampede that occurred late Wednesday.
Survivors of the stampede have been telling different stories as to what may have caused the stampede.
Some said they heard reports of gun shots which forced a panic rush out of the congested Community Centre whilst others said there was a sudden power outage which caused the initial panic.
In the end six women, and three men were crashed to death in the ensuing stampede who have since been buried according to Islamic rites.
Speaking to Joy News the Member of Parliament for Asawasi Muntaka Mubarak described the incident as “unfortunate and sad.”
He wondered why the Asawasi Community Centre was chosen as venue for a program that featured an artiste who singlehandedly had the Tamale stadium filled for a similar entertainment show.
He said before the program he had advised that the program should be ended before or latest by 8:30 pm. He did not understand why the program travelled to about 12:00 midnight.
He however denied assertions there was no emergency exit, except to admit that the emergency exit was small.
He also stated that there was a reported spark in the meter that afternoon, something he suspected may have caused the eventual blackout during the program itself.
He promised a thorough investigation will be conducted and will make sure everything will be done to make sure that it will never happen again.