World's worst stampedes
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-13 10:30

At least 51 people were killed and 238 injured in a stampede on Tuesday at a Yemeni stadium where President Ali Abdullah Saleh was holding a pre-election rally in the southern province of Ibb.


Tens of thousands of people attend an election rally for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Ibb, some 180 kilometers south of Sanaa. More than 50 people were crushed to death in a stampede at an overcrowded stadium in southern Yemen during an election rally by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a week ahead of polls already marred by violence.[AFP]

Here is a chronology of some of the worst stampedes of recent years.

March 1988 - In Kathmandu, 70 fans are killed after a stampede towards locked exits in a hailstorm at Nepal's national soccer stadium, in the country's worst civilian disaster.

July 1990 - 1,426 pilgrims are crushed to death in a stampede inside al-Muaissem tunnel near Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The accident occurs on Eid al-Adha (The Feast of Sacrifice), Islam's most important feast at the end of the annual Haj pilgrimage.

May 1994 - In Saudi Arabia, a stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills 270 at the place where pilgrims hurl stones at piles of rocks symbolising the devil.

October 1996 - Up to 82 people die and at least 147 are injured when fans tumble down seats and a flight of stairs at a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City.

April 1998 - 119 pilgrims are crushed to death in a stampede at the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

May 2001 - In Ghana, 126 people are killed after a stampede at Accra's main soccer stadium when police fire teargas at rioting fans in one of Africa's worst soccer disasters.

February 2004 - A stampede kills 251 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near Jamarat Bridge during the ritual stoning of the devil at the annual Haj pilgrimage.

January 2005 - At least 265 Hindu pilgrims, including several women and children, are killed in a stampede near a remote temple in India's Maharashtra state.

August - At least 1,005 people die in Iraq when Shi'ites stampede off a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad panicked by rumours of a suicide bomber in the crowd.

December - 42 homeless people are trampled to death in a stampede during the distribution of flood relief supplies at a shelter in southern India.

January 2006 - 363 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death at the eastern entrance of Mena's Jamarat Bridge when pilgrims jostle to perform the stoning ritual at the annual Haj pilgrimage.

February - 71 people are killed in a stampede at a stadium in Manila as they scramble to get into a popular Philippine television game show.

September 12 - At least 51 people are killed in a stampede in a Yemeni stadium where President Ali Abdullah Saleh was holding a pre-election rally in the southern province of Ibb.