Ever heard of the Nepalese Football, Tribhuvan Challenge Shield? It was contested for by two of the nation's clubs; Janakpur, based at the city's Cigarette Factory and Bangladesh's Liberation Army, Muktijoddha Sangsad KC? On March 12 1988, the two clubs met at Nepal's national Dasharath Stadium, hoping to decide a winner, in front of 30,000 in the crowd. It was a big occasion!
Firstly, a sudden and tragic hailstorm broke out during the match and the crowd dashed for shelter towards the back of the stands. With the doors and exits locked, fans became crushed under the covers and there was no escape. Instead of helping the people in the stadium get out safely, the police resorted to baton charging. The melee resulted in 93 people dying with over 700 fans injured.
Witnesses said that the stadium staff and police refused to open the stadium gates without orders and of course the police blamed the stadium officials and vise versa. It is believed that at least 25,000 match tickets were sold in a stadium with a capacity of 20,000; thousands more were desperate to get into the see the big match, without tickets.
In the aftermath, chaos continued into the streets of the city, in Katmandu as fans protested about the organisation and of course were disappointed to not enjoy their club's spectacle finale. Priests burned the dead on huge funeral "pyres", there were anti-police riots and the Nepalese Chief Justice had his car pelted with rocks. Entertainment in the city was banned for 24 hours and the Government announced csh grants to the families that suffered losses.
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