Stampede leaves South Africa reeling

JOHANNESBURG - South African soccer bosses began an inquiry on Thursday into the causes of a soccer stampede that killed 43 people, while families searched for relatives still missing since Wednesday night's disaster. South Africans woke up to newspaper and television images of bodies lined up on the green turf of the country's second biggest stadium - victims of the country's worst sports disaster. There were also graphic witness accounts of how men, women and children were crushed to death as thousands of fans broke down gates and surged into an already packed Ellis Park stadium midway through a national league game. Security guard Petrus Saayman said he saw a teenage girl trapped by the neck between bars of two gates as fans locked out of the stadium toppled a fence and rushed in. "I think the girl's neck was broken." Saayman said he pulled her lifeless body from the gate. At the Johannesburg mortuary, families queued from dawn to look for lost relatives. One man, Roy Nation, said he was looking for his 11-year-old son, from whom he had become separated on Wednesday night. "There will be a full investigation into this tragedy," Robin Petersen, chief executive of the Premier Soccer League said as soccer officials and government leaders gathered for urgent talks. Most officials looked tired after a sleepless night and refused to speak to reporters. Provincial police chief Sharma Maharaj said that the tragedy was not the fault of his officers, whose responsibility had ended at the gates. A policeman said tempers flared when league-leaders Orlando Pirates equalised at one-all about 30 minutes into the first half of the game against Kaizer Chiefs. The crowd pressed against a gate, which collapsed, trapping several people under the mesh while spectators rushed across it to get in. Oupa Mabaso of Pirates said: "It is a hurting thing. It put a black mark on South African." Doctors battled through the night to save the lives of children critically injured in the stampede. Hospitals on Thursday reported nine people still in a critical condition. Ends