What happened at Mike Kalambay’s concert at the Congo capital? Nine people reportedly dies in a stampede

Mike Kalambay performed at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, Congo on July 27, 2024. During the performance, however, tragedy struck, with a stampede causing the death of nine people and more injured, leading to the cancelation of the performance and the closure of the stadium.

According to news reporting, the singer was performing at the 80,000-capacity venue when overcrowding led to the stampede and the following death, including that of a ten-year-old child.

The stadium is now closed until further notice, and the Stade Tata Raphael venue was also closed. The incident has led to the start of an investigation, with the governor of Kinshasa blaming the incident on "excess crowd movements". More stringent crowd control policies are reportedly being implemented because of the incident.

The incident at the stadium was not an outlier, with a previous such incident having occurred in 2022 during a performance by Fally Ipupa, causing the death of 11 people and injuring dozens more.

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More on Mike Kalambay Kinhasa concert incident

The organizers of the Mike Kalambay concert, MAAJABU, posted a long condolence message on their official Instagram page on July 27, 2024, expressing gratitude to the people of Kinshasa and the police of the city and their condolences for the incident. The translated statement is provided below,

"We would like to express our gratitude to the entire population of Kinshasa who came in large numbers to the Stade des Martyrs for the EXPLO concert by Pastor Mike Kalambay. We thank you for your enthusiasm and especially for your fervor to give Glory to our God, Jesus was celebrated."

The statement continues, providing a crowd count of 30,000, which contradicts the reports of overcrowding at the stadium,

During this celebration more than 30,000 souls came and Christ, Thank you Jesus for being present. We are also grateful to the police, our national police who are in charge of security with 2000 police officers more than 100 PM and the rapid and professional response to all situations during the concert."

The statement continued,

"But it is with deep sadness that we learned of the disappearance of our compatriots who lost their lives while the security services were trying to neutralize some troublemakers. We present our sincere condolences to the families and to all who are affected by this tragedy and we reassure them that MAJABU will provide comfort to the families concerned."

The statement ends with,

"- who will be identified by the competent authorities who are working hard to shed light on the exact circumstances of this event. We give multiple thanks to Almighty God who allowed the reality of this worship. May God bless the return of everyone to their homes, Thank you. The Management, MAAJABU Gospel."

No explanation has been provided as to the reason behind such a drastic difference between the official account of overcrowding and the organizers' figure of less than half the stadium's capacity. Neither Mike Kalambay nor the organizers have so far provided further information about exactly what happened during the concert.

Mike Kalambay's performance was going to feature several special guests, including Faveur Mukoko, Eunice Manianga, Alain Paluku, Joelle Ntumba, and Gédéon Muenga, among others.

Mike Kalambay is a Congolese gospel singer with several albums in his catalog already, the latest released in 2023 and titled Dieu en toute circonstance.