Two persons have been killed in a crush during a football match Saturday at the South African stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup final, local media and an official said.


The incident occurred at a pre-season derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, the country’s most popular teams, both from Soweto.

Public and private broadcasters cited officials saying the crush took place outside a gate at the FNB stadium which hosted the final of the football extravaganza seven years ago.

Emergency services were not immediately reachable for comment, but Michael Sun, a Johannesburg municipal councillor responsible for public safety confirmed the deaths in a tweet.

“Situation report from FNB Soweto Derby：Stampede reported with multiple injuries, 2 confirmed fatal,” wrote Sun on Twitter.

The match carried on despite the tragedy at the stadium which has an official capacity of 94,000 and was won 1-0 by Chiefs.

The two worst football tragedies in South Africa involved matches between the same clubs — in 2001 when 43 people were killed, and in 1991, when the death toll was 42.