‘I didn’t feel safe’: Afcon bus crash casts doubt on declarations

Photo: Alex Cizmic

Ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, this reporter asked Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), if he could give a guarantee, following the unprecedented loss of life and injuries at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon, during the tournament in 2022, that no similar incidents would occur on the Ivory Coast.

“Whatever happens at the Africa Cup of Nations, as Caf president I am responsible,” Motsepe said. “They have to look into the eyes of the victims, and their families, after the tragedy [in Yaoundé]one of the most difficult things I have had to do in my life … I had extensive discussions and consultations with the President [Alassane] Ouattara and the Ivorian authorities, to ensure that people are safe and secure during this tournament.

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That assurance brings little comfort to Alex Cizmic.

Cizmic, an Italian journalist writing for the Guardian, was traveling with colleagues from Yamoussoukro to Abidjan in a shuttle bus operated by the tournament’s organizing committee, after watching a group match between Guinea and Senegal, when he crashed into a concrete barrier on the motorway at around 2am on Wednesday.

“I didn’t feel safe [during the journey] because the driver was driving very fast,” says Cizmic. “Taxi drivers and bus drivers, as far as I’ve seen here, just like I’ve seen in Cameroon, they don’t drive very safely … I was just trying to deal with that and telling myself that we almost arrived. [in Abidjan] and should have been calm, when I heard someone shouting ‘be careful, be careful…’ as the bus was crashing into the wall, on the right hand side of the highway.

“I said to myself: ‘I hope it stops, I hope it stops…’. Fortunately, the driver tried to regain control of the vehicle, so I fell into the middle of the bus and that kind of saved me, because I was sitting next to the volunteer. [who was serving as the chaperone] who got arrested after the accident.

The story continues

“If I had been on my seat, I would have been hurt much more … I have an injury on my right arm, which is swollen, so I cannot work or write. I have minor injuries to my head, legs and left arm but I’m usually fine. It was a shock and I’m still processing [everything].”

Danish journalist Buster Emil Kirchner says: “The driver took so many risks with us during this trip. Although most of us were asleep we could understand that he was using the brakes, often spontaneously… We were just outside Treichville, when the accident happened.

“I was in the front seat right behind the driver, and the first thing that came to my mind was that we should get off the bus. [through the windows] before it starts to burn. Most of us got off the bus within seconds and started checking ourselves to see if we were okay.

“We could only get out of the bus through the windows, so we had to help each other do that. The windows were completely broken, so there were only holes in the bus. We went to the hospital [in Treichville] after some confusion outside. As a friend of Alex, I went to support him there, until we went back home.”

Satish Sekar, a British passenger on the bus, has his arm in a sling. “My arm was X-rayed,” he says. “Nothing is broken, but it will take about a week or two to fix.”

Caf is yet to issue a statement on the accident but an official highly placed in the organization told the Guardian that the trip took place outside the safety agreements reached with the competition’s local organizing committee (LOC). The three-hour journey of 234km, with no overhead lights on the motorway, started at around 11pm.

“We told the LOC that no bus returning to Abidjan from Yamoussoukro should leave after 8pm, so it was surprising to hear that this trip happened at all,” the official said. “We are happy that there were no deaths. We have said again, without a doubt, that no bus journey is to be made in such circumstances in the future. It is not safe for people to be traveling on that road at that time of night.”

An Ivorian with knowledge of the operation of the LOC, who declined to be named, said: “The experience and safety standards of the drivers were not taken seriously enough. [by tournament organisers]. People who drive some of the people who drive buses gbakas and woro-woros [old cars and buses not properly licensed for public transport]. Some of them are not well trained for the jobs they are doing. The accident could have ended up in a real disaster. We’re lucky things weren’t much worse.”