Medics and Iraq’s Interior Ministry on Thursday said that one person had been killed and around 60 people sustained “slight injuries” in a stampede outside a football stadium in the southern city of Basra.
The crush occurred as fans tried to gain entry for the Gulf Cup final, with host nation Iraq qualifying to face Oman.
Kick off was scheduled for 7 p.m. local time (1600 UTC/GMT).
“A large number of fans, many of them without tickets, had gathered since first light to try to get in,” an interior ministry official said.
The ministry issued a statement urging fans without tickets to leave the area. It said the game was sold out, the stadium was already full, and the gates had been closed.
The Associated Press cited a physician at Basra Hospital as saying a second person had…
