Today, Saturday, 11 April 2015, marks 14 years since the Ellis Park Stadium disaster, which is remembered for claiming the lives of 43 people in a Soweto Derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
The South African football fraternity will forever remember the 43 fans who never returned home, after having gone to watch the biggest game in the Premier Soccer League’s calendar on 11 April 2001.
Benedict Vilakazi had just equalised for Pirates, after Tony Ilodigwe had scored for Chiefs earlier on that evening when the game was halted.
At that moment it had become evident to the powers-that-be and almost everyone at the stadium that tragedy had stricken.
The stadium had been overcrowded, which made it difficult for the security personnel to control the fans on that fateful evening.
The score was 1-1 when the game was abandoned before the end of the first half.
The scenes of the bodies of the deceased that were laid on the pitch that evening will forever be in the memories of the masses associated with arguably the most-loved sport in Mzansi.
As this day marks the memorial service of the late Steve ‘Kalamazoo’ Mokone, as well as the funeral service of the late Richard Henyakane, Soccer Laduma would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of all.
Mokone’s memorial service is being held at FNB Stadium. Henyekane’s funeral service is held in Galeshewe in Kimberley.
Saturday 11 April 2015
http://www.soccerladuma.co.za/news/articles/categories/south-africa/14-years-since-the-ellis-park-stadium-disaster/206438
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