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