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At least two people died and 163 were injured this Friday in a stampede at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi during the state funeral of former Prime Minister and Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
"Today, October 17, we treated 163 patients at Nyayo Stadium and referred 34. Most presented with trauma and fractures. Two lives were lost in the stampede," the organization noted on its X account.
Part of the crowd tried to approach Odinga's coffin to pay their last respects, which caused a stampede in which MSF and the Kenyan Red Cross teams intervened.
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"Difficult day for our teams at the Nyayo stadium, responding to a stampede that left many in need of urgent attention," said the Red Cross on its social media. "Kenya Red Cross teams continue to provide first aid, psychosocial support and assist with medical evacuations alongside emergency responders," they added. Although the situation inside and around the stadium was subsequently controlled, twelve psychosocial support teams and two medical triage points were deployed at the venue, where the funeral ceremony was held. The incident occurred despite the strict security measures implemented by the Kenyan Government. After more than three hours of vigil, hundreds of people rushed the police cordon guarding the coffin to try to say goodbye to Odinga, which unleashed the tragedy. Thousands of people went to the stadium, which has a capacity for 30,000 spectators, in a ceremony led by the Kenyan president, William Ruto, and attended by representatives from several African countries. The incident adds to Thursday's incidents, when at least three people died from gunshots after the Police dispersed more than 60,000 attendees at the chaotic wake held at the Kasarani stadium, also in Nairobi. The clashes with security forces occurred after numerous Odinga supporters attempted to forcibly access a restricted area of Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, where the body was being guarded for later display. The crowd, seemingly impatient and tired of waiting, began to throw chairs and stones at the guards, which led to the intervention of the Police, who responded by firing into the air and throwing tear gas. The panic unleashed stampedes that practically emptied the large stadium in Kenya in seconds. The Government decreed seven days of national mourning in memory of Odinga —who passed away last Wednesday due to cardiac arrest while receiving medical treatment in India—, with tributes that will culminate on Sunday with his burial in his ancestral home of Bondo (west). Leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Odinga ran for president five times (1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022), but was unsuccessful in any and denounced electoral fraud to justify the defeats. He served as Prime Minister between 2008 and 2013, a position created after the post-election crisis of 2007, when the country experienced ethnic-tinged disturbances that left more than 1,100 dead and more than 600,000 displaced.
