Sports News of Wednesday, 20 June 2001

Source: GNA

Commission on Stadium Disaster presents report.

The five-member Presidential Commission of Enquiry into the Accra Sports Stadium disaster has presented its interim report to the government.

President John Agyekum Kufuor who received the report said it would give Ghanaians, bereaved families and the injured some assurance that at least some work had been done to forestall its re-occurrence. He said the government believed in the competence of the Commission to deliver in record time and this had been proved by the meticulous work it had done.

Kufuor said government would study the report and its recommendations but urged members of the commission to complete the final report and submit recommendations to government. Mr Sam Okudzeto, Chairman of the Commission, who presented the report, said they had 17 public hearings, adding that the main thrust of their findings was the realisation of serious flaws in the security system at the stadium.

He said the Commission was presenting an interim report because there were more in-depth issues and enquiries to be done before the government could take decisions on their findings and recommendations.

The Commission was set up last month to investigate the disaster which occurred on May 9 resulting in the death of 126 people and make recommendations to prevent its re-occurrence.