Oppenheimer Stadium Disaster
The Oppenheimer Stadium disaster, or Orkney Disaster, was a crowd crush that occurred on 13 January 1991, claiming the lives of 42 people, at the Oppenheimer Stadium in the city of Orkney (200 kilometres (120 mi) from Johannesburg) in South Africa's North West province. It was the second-worst sporting incident in South African history.
On 13 January 1991, there was a preseason "friendly" association football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates F.C. The stadium had a capacity of 23,000, but about 30,000 fans were admitted and were not separated according to the team they supported. The referee upheld a goal scored by Chiefs, and supporters of Pirates objected. Pirates fans threw cans and fruit at Chiefs fans, and allegedly some knife-wielding Pirates fans attacked Chiefs fans. As panicking fans tried to escape the brawls were trampled or crushed to death against riot-control fences.
The worst sporting incident in South Africa, the Ellis Park Stadium disaster in 2001, involved fans of the same two teams.
References
- ^ "30 YEARS SINCE ORKNEY DISASTER". Kaizer Chiefs. Kaizer Chiefs. Retrieved 16 May 2023.