Accra stadium disaster commission returns home

The five member delegation of the Presidential Commission on the Accra Stadium tragedy led by its chairman, Mr Sam Okudzeto on Thursday returned home from London after acquainting themselves with Stadium security measures in that country.

The other members of the delegation were Professor Akua Kuenyehia, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosah, Mr Miguel Riberio and Mr Ken Bediako. Speaking to newsmen on arrival at the Accra International Airport, Mr Okudzeto said the delegation held discussions with experts on Stadium security and visited the Chelsea grounds and the Aston Villa stadium in Birmingham to see how it was constructed and the safety measures employed.

He said the visit has given the Commission an insight into what was not done right and the causes of the stadium tragedy. He said the committee realises that the bodies responsible for the Accra stadium security did not play their role well by not taking responsible measures for safety.

"If trained men had been positioned in proper places like is done in the UK they could have controlled the stampede to lesson the number of causalities." He said the security at the stadium on the day of the tragedy was haphazard and that the presence in the arena of armed police was prohibited in the UK.

"Also unlike in England where Policemen are responsible for the arrangement of security at the stadium, here in Ghana it was the duty of the stadium authority to arrange and request for security.''

The Commission Chairman, therefore, called for proper co-ordination and co-operation between the Police and the stadium authorities as well as those who organise football matches in the country. The Commission, he said, also realised that exists at the stadium were badly constructed and were unsafe and described the one at the northern wing as a death trap and of a bad design.

"The railings and the seats at that stand were also not of good quality and something should be done about it." He said an interim report on their visit would be ready by next week, adding that that Commission would now look at the technical aspects of the investigation.