I was reading the recent football stadium disasters and saw Nepal in the list. Can anyone who was there at that time or knows any stories about it share the stories?

Recent football stadium disasters

• Oct 82: More than 300 reportedly killed in a stampede on a narrow, icy staircase at a Spartak-Haarlem match in Moscow
• May 85: 56 people die in a terrace fire during a Bradford City-Lincoln City match in Bradford, England
• May 85: 39 people are killed when a separation wall collapses at a Liverpool-Juventus European Champions Cup final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels
• March 88: 93 people die in a stampede after fleeing a hailstorm at the national stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal
• Apr 89: 96 people are crushed to death at a Liverpool-Nottingham Forest cup match in Sheffield
• Jan 91: At least 40 people die in a stampede after riots at a friendly match in Orkney, South Africa
• Oct 96: About 80 people are killed in a stampede before a Guatemala-Costa Rica World Cup qualifying match in Guatemala City
• Apr 01: More than 40 people killed in a crush at the overcrowded Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa
• May 01: 127 people killed after police in Ghana fired tear gas into the crowd after unrest at a match between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium

I cannot forget that day never ever in my life. Hats off to that sub inspector who save my life :(

I didn't go there but my uncles did; luckily they survived.
Basically, the stadium official kept the doors locked while people tried to run out of the stadium due to the hailstorm. Massive stampede ensued. Darkest day in Nepal's sports history.

I was in there too... luckly I didn't go towards the people who jumped the bars and tried exiting the door where all got trapped. Went home that nite and watched the news to realize people died the way they went. 

RIP

I did not go on that day. It was the constructional error and forcing to stay until the game finsihed.
So sad, one of my best friend was alive from that incident , he was hospitlised for months.

I remember that incident.

My cousin died in that mayhem.  He was crushed by the crowd at the gate of the stadium.  We found his body in the Bir Hospital corridor.

From what I heard, it was Sarad Chandra Shah - then Chief of Sports and Dasrath Rangasala - who was the main culprit.  He specifically ordered the gates to be closed and locked because he feared people might leave as the game was rather lackluster.

 "as the game was rather lackluster."
Sorry SGY, the game was not a 'lackluster' as you heard. That was supposed to be the most interesting game of that year as compared to the Nepali football scenario of that time. It must be noted too, that the electronic entertainment gadgets like video game consoles were very rare even in Kathmandu. I have no comments about rest of your comments.
P.S. I was one of the survivor of that tragic day !

Hi, (just for somewhat younger friends)

I was not there, but at home. It was a normal Falgun weather---but an unexpected storm in the afternoon with wind gust and hailstorm caught people by surprise.

To avoid the hail storm, people from the open, roof-less  part of the stadium rushed to the exits - 2 gates in particular, I think. If you have not been to the Dasharath Rangasaala, then you may not get how these gates are configured. It has steep stairs, may be 20 feet wide. But there are collapsible sliding metal gates somewhere half way down the stairs. These gates are opened just few feet wide to let one person pass at a time. To make matters worse, the stairs have some gaps running from top to bottom, just enough to  let your legs get caught.

These stair-wells became the deep well where people got trapped. People just kept pushing those below--which is not an unexpected of our Nepali temperament.

An uncle, a soccer fan, who was in the roofed part of the stadium, came home terrified said he saw hundred lying on the grass in the aftermath!

Many young souls lost their lives.

(And, in those innocent days, nothing dramatic would happen in Nepal. Last major incident was the four bomb blasts conspired by  Ram Raja Prasad Singh, and then the assasination attempt of reporter Padam Thakurathi! And the 2045 earhquake But I forgot was it before or after this incident.)