Stampede Following Manchester United v. Chelsea Match Kills Two in Zambia

There is no doubt that football in the United Kingdom is sometimes accompanied by bouts of violence from unruly fans either celebrating or lamenting the outcome of their favorite team’s latest match. Even with the acknowledgement of the interesting climate surrounding football in the UK, it is still horrible when innocent football fans are injured or killed when these acts of violence occur.

Today it was announced that 4 Zambian police officers are being charged with murder after an unfortunate incident at a bar in the town of Mazabuka where two patrons were reported watching the latest Chelsea versus Manchester United match. Evidently a number of patrons declined to leave the bar after a request from the police, who then threw in two canisters of tear gas into the bar, inciting a stampede.

Two individuals, a male and female, 23 and 21 years of age respectively, were killed during the stampede. Protestors who had received word of these deaths rioted in the streets of the Zambian capital Lusaka, breaking windows, looting, blocking streets, and causing a lot of damage throughout the capital until it was reported that the officers responsible for inciting the initial stampede were placed under custody and charged with the murders of these two young individuals.

Since English football is so popular in Zambia they do have to deal with a lot of the same issues that UK football fans have to deal with, including the prevalent violence issues surrounding these matches. Even still the loss of these two young football fans is incredibly regrettable.