January 2
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Sixty-six football supporters have been killed following a clash between Celtic and Rangers at the Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow. The disaster occurred when crush barriers collapsed as thousands of fans made their way out of the stadium. Initial reports suggest the tragedy, which happened on stairway 13 of the stadium, was caused when hundreds of Rangers fans began leaving the match early believing Celtic had won. Jimmy Johnstone had scored for Celtic with just a minute to go, but Colin Stein scored an equalising goal for Rangers during injury time causing a huge roar to erupt inside the stadium. According to eye-witnesses, fans attempting to get back up the stairs after hearing the roar, collided head-on with those coming down the stairs. Rescuers, who were on the scene within minutes, tried to force their way through the crowds, but their efforts were mostly in vain. One man who managed to struggle out of the crush, described the scene. "I was making my way out of the stadium down the stairs when suddenly everything seemed to stop," he said. "The lads at the back just kept coming forward down the stairs. "I went down with the rest of the crowd, being pushed and pulled onto the ground. "Everyone was struggling to get out, suffocating - it was essentially a fight for survival. After 10 or 15 minutes I was dragged out by a policeman and brought to hospital by ambulance." Eighteen-year-old Margaret Ferguson was the only female fan to be killed in the tragedy. Alick Buchanan-Smith, Scottish minister for Home Affairs, has called for an immediate inquiry into the disaster. Commander of NATO armed forces in Bosnia, Admiral Leighton Smith, appeared on Bosnian Serb TV to try to reassure Serbs the alliance would be even-handed in implementing the agreement. Americans in Bosnia now number 2000, representing the superpower's first military operation in Europe since the Second World War. Lt Col Greg Stone, commander of the 1st Cavalry's 1st Squadron, said: "This is another step, another chapter in history". Progress has been slowed by the bad weather, which has turned the US base into a muddy bog. The troops are said to be behind schedule. The troops are headed to Tuzla air base, the main US base in Bosnia, where they will then be assigned to 16 bases, set up on both sides of the confrontation line. The exact sites for some of the bases are still being worked on by military planners, officials said. In Sarajevo the Joint Military Commission, bringing together peacekeepers and the warring parties, met to discuss the disbanding of civilian armed groups and the clearance of mines. |
