The Professional Football League in Guinea (LGFP) has confirmed that nine players from second division side Etoile de Guinee were killed in a bus crash on Thursday.
A further 19 people were injured in the incident with 17 of those considered in a serious condition.
The accident happened just outside the city of Mamou, some 250 kilometres east of the capital Conakry where Etoile are based.
The team were on their way to play in the city of Kankan, a further 400km east of Mammou, in what was meant to be the first match of the league season.
A statement from the LGFP also thanked Guinea’s president Apha Conde for taking charge of ensuring that all the bodies and the injured are taken to Conakry.
The president of the Guinea Football Federation Antonio Souare says it plans to hold a day of mourning to remember those who lost their lives with all teams playing in the league wearing black armbands, with the exact date yet to be named.
Thursday’s incident is the second fatal road accident involving a Guinean football team in recent months.
On 30 January, three people died when the team bus of top-flight side Wakriya AC was also involved in an accident.
The night-time accident involved the bus crashing with a stationary truck in Friguiadi, outside the capital Conakry.
Sierra Leonean Alfred Kargbo died at the scene of the crash, while midfielder Aboubacar Camara and bus driver N’Fa Laye died in hospital the following day.
Source: BBC
