Orkney Stadium Disaster

The Orkney Stadium Disaster at the Oppenheimer Stadium in the city of Orkney, North West Province, South Africa (200 km from Johannesburg) was the second worst sporting incident in South African history, with 42 deaths.

On the 13 January 1991, there was a pre-season "friendly" football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. The stadium had a capacity of 23,000. Apparently about 30,000 fans were admitted, and they were not separated according to the team they supported. The referee upheld a goal scored by the Chiefs, and supporters of the Pirates objected. Pirates fans threw cans and fruit at Chiefs fans, and allegedly some knife-wielding Pirates fans attacked Chiefs fans. In the stampede, panicking fans trying to escape the brawls were trampled or crushed to death against riot-control fences.

The worst sporting incident in South Africa, the Ellis Park Stadium Disaster in 2001, involved fans of the same two teams.

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