Violent clashes between football fans at a match in Guinea leave over 100 dead: Report

Scores of people were killed on Dec 1 after clashes broke out between fans at a football match in Guinea's second-largest city — N'Zerekore, according to a media report.

"There are bodies lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital. Others are lying on the floor in the hallways. The morgue is full," a doctor was quoted as saying by the news agency AFP on condition of anonymity.

The doctor, who wasn't authorized to speak, said "There are around 100 dead", while another doctor said there were "dozens of dead".

Several videos have been circulating on social media showing the chaotic scene in the street outside the venue with bodies lying around. The videos, however, haven't been verified.

According to witnesses, the brawl began after the referee's contested decision, following which the fans stormed onto the pitch.

The angry mob also vandalized and set fire to the N'Zerekore police station, according to witnesses.

The match was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea's junta leader, Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and has since declared himself as president, according to local media reports.

These tournaments are a common occurrence in the impoverished West African nation.

Doumbouya seized power by force in September 2021 and now plans to run for president in next year's presidential elections.

He is one of several military leaders who seized power in West Africa since 2020, along with others in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

N'Zerekore, a city in Guinea's southeast where the clashes took place has a population of about 200,000 people.