Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake has mourned a Kenyan fan who died following a crush at his concert at a stadium in Nairobi. The victim, 20-year-old Karen Lojore, was reportedly amid the long queues near a gate into the Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday. Delays in getting in were worsened by heavy rain, with other fans being injured, reports theBBC.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Monday, Asake said he was “devastated by the tragic incident”. Kenyan police spokesman Michael Muchiri had termed the crush a “very unfortunate” incident. He said the situation had been very serious but the police had worked to contain the crowds avert more deaths.
He said “it looked like crowd control at the venue was not very ok” but said investigations would reveal what actually went wrong and help to avoid such tragedy in future. He said such an investigation would normally be concluded in a matter of weeks. In his statement, Asake said “my heart goes out to the family, friends and loved ones of Karen Lojore”, pledging to support efforts to “understand what happened”.
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He said music was always his “way of sharing love and joy” and “it breaks my heart that anyone had to experience such loss”. “Those responsible should be held accountable,” he added. The organisers of the event, Tukutane Entertainment, said they were working with the authorities to “understand what happened”. A journalist with Kenyan broadcaster Citizen TV, Immanuel Ndungu, who attended the concert, spoke on Instagram about problems with the stadium entrance, crowd control and how people were allowed in.
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