Several injured, vehicles smashed as hooligan soccer fans
run riot in Malawi
18/10/2004
11:23
Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre,
Saturday night erupted in violence as hooligan football fans
vented their anger on innocent motorists and bystanders
following the country's champions Bakili Bullets' failure to
proceed into the semi-finals of the African Champions League.
Bakili Bullets, owned by former president Bakili Muluzi, drew
1- all against Africa's soccer defending champions, Enyimba of
Nigeria. But because Enyimba leads Group A on points they
proceed into the semi-finals.
This did not go well with the Bullets fans who thronged in the
streets, smashing vehicles and beating up innocent bystanders.
Police Spokesman Willy Mwaluka said Sunday several vehicles
were smashed and several people were injured, at least three
of whom seriously.
"We don't have the actual figures yet but it was
chaos," he said.
At least 10 of the hooligans were arrested.
Eyewitnesses said the hooligan fans erected boulders on main
roads, blocking vehicles.
Sam Mhindi, whose Nissan Patrol windscreen was smashed, said a
crowd of about 30 hooligans stopped vehicles in the
high-density Mbayani township and started stoning vehicles
with impunity.
"They were throwing rocks with absolute abandon so much
that it is a miracle that nobody died," he said.
Mhindi said the unarmed police officers on the scene were
overwhelmed, reduced to helpless spectators as the violence
unfolded.
An unidentified white man, driving a Mercedez Benz, got the
worst of the violence. A huge rock hit him on the head,
peeling the skin off. As he was struggling to control the
oozing blood, the hooligans smashed his brand new Benz and
carted away anything they could lay their hands on.
Police in Blantyre said at least 30 cars were smashed, at
least 10 of them beyond repair.
Angry residents of Mbayani township, seeing that the police
officers were doing nothing to stop the violence, stormed the
nearby Chirimba Police Station, breaking all its window panes.
Hospital authorities at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital
confirmed receiving "several" casualties, three of
them, including the white man, went straight into the
Intensive Care Unit.
An off-duty nurse at the elite Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in
the city was also caught up in the melee. The hooligans
descended on her, beating her senseless.
Trouble begun right on the football pitch when Angolan referee
Bernardo Columbi sent off Bakili Bullets player Fischer
Kondowe following an ugly tackle on an Enyimba player. The
irate fans started throwing all sorts of things, including
bottles of beer.
Columbi and some Enyimba players claimed to have been struck
by the projectiles. But there was no reports of injuries among
the referee and the players.
Analysts blame the melee on former president Bakili Muluzi who
bought all the seats in the stadium for soccer fans.
"This meant all the thugs who couldn't afford a decent
entry into the stadium got in," said a lawyer in
Blantyre.
Xinhua News
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