A stampede kills 37 people during an army recruitment campaign in Congo-Brazzaville | Military news

Authorities in Brazzaville announced that an unknown number of other people were also injured in the incident.

Thirty-seven people died in a nighttime stampede during an army recruitment drive at a stadium in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, authorities said Tuesday.

Last week, the army of the central African country also known as Congo-Brazzaville announced it was recruiting 1,500 people aged 18 to 25.

Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso, who said 37 people were killed in the “tragedy”, announced that an unknown number of others were also injured.

“A crisis unit has been set up under the authority of the Prime Minister,” the press release added. Other details about the incident are still unclear.

Potential recruits had been directed to the Michel d’Ornano stadium, in the heart of Brazzaville.

According to residents, many people were still in the stadium Monday evening when the stampede began. Some people had tried to force their way through the gates, and many were trampled in the stampede, residents said.

Unemployment is rife in this country of 5.8 million inhabitants, where, according to the World Bank, “75 percent of the Congolese workforce is employed in the informal sector, either on their own account or in jobs low productivity.