Ivory Coast mourns 60 killed in a stampade

Ivory Coast mourns 60 killed in stampede Ivory Coast's presidentdeclared three days of national mourning and promised a speedy investigation into the New Year's Day stampede that killed 60 people, most of them women and children. "The president of the republic offers his saddest condolences tothe families and close relations of the victims and ensures them of his compassion in thosepainful circumstances," President Alassane Ouattara's office said ina statement issued Tuesday night. Ouattara went to the scene of the disaster and has ordered the government to take care of the injured, his office said. "He also asked an investigation to be carried out as soon as possible to determine the circumstances and causes of this stampede," the statement said. The horror unfolded about 1 a.m. after a New Year's Eve fireworks show in Abidjan, the West African country's largest city and former capital. The dead included 26 children, 28women and six men, Youth Minister Alain Lobognon reported via Twitter. Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said the tragedy happened as hundreds of people were trying to go home after the fireworks display ended in Plateau, the city's central business district. The crush was near a stadium, Bakayoko said, adding that the proper security measures were in placeduring the fireworks show. In addition to the deaths, Bakayoko said,another 49 people wereinjured, two seriously. Many of the victims were trampled on or suffocated by the surging crowd, a seniorfire official said on national television. Rescue workers were at the scene two hours later but could not savethe victims, the official AIP news agency said. AIP had reported earlierthat all the victims wereall children, ranging in age from eight to 15. A police official in Abidjan told CNN that most of the victims were young people whowanted to join in the celebration while their elders stayed at home. The stampede occurredin an area of narrow streets, according to the official, who did not want to be named as heis not authorized to talkto the media.