Gambia'05: More collapse after Gambia's second victory

(FROM: William Ezah, GNA, courtesy Slok Air, International)

Banjul, Gambia, May 11, GNA - The Gambia, host of the on-going sixth Africa under-17 soccer championship, recorded more casualties on Tuesday after a second straight victory in the five-day old competition. The host registered a dramatic 3-2 victory over Mali; coming just four days after recording a slender 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the opening game.

At least 20 soccer fans were unconscious by the 80th-minute when The Gambia took a 3-2 lead in Tuesday's game and had to be rushed to the Medical Centre of the Independence Stadium, the venue for the match. When the GNA Sports visited the medical centre, it discovered that most of the victims were women.

Medical officers could not assign immediate reasons for the collapse but believed could be due to anxiety and the ecstatic victory chalked by the host team.