African football body calls for `thorough` investigation into ` fatal stampede` at Congo match

Washington: The ruling African football body has reportedly called for a `thorough` investigation into how 15 fans died at a league match in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The fatalities, which occurred during a game between the country`s biggest clubs- AS Vita Club and TP Mazembe, started after fans of Vita started throwing missiles onto the pitch, following which the police responded by firing tear gas, resulting in a stampede and the deaths and injuries to over 20 others. According to CNN, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said the stampede `caused the collapse of a wall and a gate of the Tata Raphael stadium`, with president Issa Hayatou emphasizing that all acts of violence have no place in football. Condemning the acts, Hayatou urged FECOFA (the Congolese FA) and Congo authorities to `thoroughly investigate this matter and ensure that measures (are) put in place to avoid a repeat of any incidents`. Kinshasa governor Andre Kimbuta has already set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the disaster, while FIFA president Sepp Blatter offered his condolences and sympathy to the families and loved ones of the deceased and the injured. The match was taking place in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, at the stadium that staged the legendary `Rumble in the Jungle` boxing bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974, the report added.