36 years of Dasharath Stadium tragedy

Many people died tragically 36 years ago at Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. Of those who went to watch the football, 69 died. That Saturday, March 13, 1988, was the final game of the Tribhuvan Challenge Club Football Tournament. Some of the wounded who were taken to the hospital died during treatment and the death toll increased.

During the final game between the club of Janakpur Cigarette Factory and the team of the Liberation Army of Bangladesh, the weather suddenly changed. At the time, the game had been played for 19 minutes.

The stadium was evacuated when it started raining and a whirlwind came from the north side of the stadium. The spectators tried to get out of the stadium to avoid it. At that time only one door was opened in the parapet, so people started trying to get out of there. As a result, 69 people were killed when the crowd increased and pressed on each other.

But after the incident, the weather improved. Nothing happened to the VIP para fit, where high-ranking people live.

This is the first time in Nepal that so many people have died in a sporting event.

After the tragedy, the people were outraged. They also vandalized the vehicles of the then Raj Sabha Standing Committee Chairman Anirudra Prasad Singh and other guests who were the chief guests at the event. The injured were rushed to Bir Hospital. There was no place to keep the injured and the corpses in the hospital. Their family members came to the hospital crying.

Taking moral responsibility for the incident, the then Education Minister Keshar Bahadur Bista, Member Secretary of the National Sports Council Sharad Chandra Shah, and President of the All Nepal Football Association Kamal Thapa resigned from their posts.

The then government had provided Rs 10,000 each to the families of the victims and Rs 2,000 each to the injured. After that, rules have been laid to keep all the doors open while the game is being played in the stadium.

Later, some Nepali players got a chance to play as professional players in the Bangladeshi club which was stopped from playing in the final.

At that time, I was working as a reporter for Nepal Television. We went to cover the football match. At that time, though, Nepal Television did not have the facility of scrolling as well as flash and breaking news. As such, we were forced to show the scenes only at night.

The message of paying due attention to the security arrangements in the sports competition was emphasized by the incident, which comes to mind even today.