Ivory Coast Stampede Kills 22
A stampede during a World Cup qualifying match killed at least 22 people in the Ivory Coast Sunday, reports the BBC. More than 130 were hurt. The stadium, Houphouet-Boigny arena, was packed with 36,000 fans on hand to see the home nation take on Malawi. The problems started when thousands attempted to squeeze into the venue. “Lots of fans showed up. They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in,” Ivorian Interior Minister Desire Tagro told local media. The weight caused a wall to collapse, reports say. This sent fans into a frenzy. Stadium authorities attempted to calm the crowd; police reportedly even sprayed the fans with tear gas. The incident happened before the match, but the game was allowed to continue and Ivory Coast ended up beating Malawi 5-0. Even though the stadium recently had been renovated, the massive crush of people overwhelmed its infrastructure. 

Train Crash Kills 15 in Tanzania
A train crash in Tanzania Sunday left at least 15 people dead. The tragedy occurred in the nation’s Dodoma region when a passenger train ran into a stationary cargo train, reports the BBC. The bodies of more victims might still be trapped in the wreckage, leading some, like Dodoma’s regional commissioner William Lukuvi, to worry that the death count could go up. “We are investigating the cause of the accident, which has already claimed at least 15 lives. Cranes have been ordered to help separate the crumpled wreckage and retrieve bodies,” Lukuvi told The Associated Press. The African nation saw its worst train accident back in 2002 when a train crashed into a passenger train, killing 200.

The 34-year-old employee who was killed when customers flooded through the doors of the Black Friday opening of a Walmart in Long Island has been identified as Jdimaytai Damour.  He was a temporary maintenance worker who took a job to make some extra cash for the holiday season. His family has hired a lawyer, setting the stage for a possible lawsuit. Angry relatives of Jdimytai Damour, a graduate of Long Island’s Freemont High School, were waiting for autopsy results Saturday as police reviewed security tapes to identify shoppers who took part in the stampede. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has defended the precautions it took on the busiest shopping day of the year, but Long Island cops said the retailer didn’t have enough security on hand. Danielle Damour, the victim’s sister, said the family was seeking legal advice and had not made funeral plans for her brother, a temporary maintenance worker. “We’ve got a lawyer already,” Danielle Damour, 41, said. “They haven’t released the body because they want to do the autopsy.” Damour was knocked over and trampled as shoppers literally walked over him to access the store faster. While only one fatality was recorded, a pregnant women had to be hospitalized after being knocked to the floor and three other persons suffered minor injuries. Shoppers were still coming in as emergency workers were trying to save the man’s life. “He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me.”

Stampede at Tanzanian disco party leaves 19 dead. A disco party in Tanzania celebrating the end of Ramadan turned for the worse with a stampede that left 19 people dead. Most of the deceased are young people between the ages of 12 and 17. According to early investigations, a stampede and suffocation in the hall were the cause of their deaths. The stampede “was caused by a commotion in the disco,” a local police commander told the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation. Several people were also taken to the hospital for their injuries. The party was a part of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan, the holiest month on the Muslim calendar. Police are still investigating.

Jamaican reggae star cleared on tax evasion. A judge in Jamaica threw out reggae star Beenie Man’s tax evasion case. Authorities in the nation accused the Grammy winner and Kingston native of owing almost $1 million in back taxes, reports CNN. But the judge cleared Beenie Man (whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis) of the charges because officials did not let him know his legal rights when they turned in their report last year.

World Lens: A new South African leader is sworn in; Colombian prison has a beauty pageant; and Naomi Campbell showed up at Milan’s Fashion week. See pics.

ANC leader fights corruption charges.

Lawyers for Jacob Zuma, president of the African National Congress, urged judges Monday to declare Zuma’s prosecution on corruption charges unlawful. Zuma contends the case against him is about politics, not actual crimes. He says it’s aimed at harming his chances to become his party’s presidential nominee next spring. Zuma could spend at least 15 years in jail if found guilty of accepting bribes from a company that won a contract for a multi-billion-dollar arms deal.

At least 133 people die in Indian stampede. At least 133 people were killed in a stampede Sunday as panicked worshippers tried to flee a crowded mountaintop Hindu temple in northern India, officials said. The stampede, which occurred on the second day of a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh state, was triggered by a rumor of a landslide on the hill above the crowd, according to Deputy Police Commissioner C.P. Verma. Along with the deaths, 40 people were injured, Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla and police told CNN’s India affiliate IBN. The dead were taken to a hospital in neighboring Punjab state for autopsies, authorities said. While some victims were crushed to death, others fell to their deaths when a railing along the narrow path to the temple broke under the weight of the throng of panicked worshippers, Verma said.

Somalia fighting claims 27. More than 27 people were killed in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu on Sunday, including at least 20 women who died when a hidden landmine exploded, Radio Garowe reported. Another 42 women were wounded in Mogadishu’s Waberi district after the blast tore through a location where dozens of women were helping clean city streets, AllAfrica.com reports, Medina Hospital director Mohamud Yusuf Hassan said. “Some of the victims have grave injuries, and we are doing our best,” Mohamud told reporters, adding that four of the victims died at the hospital. Mohamed Dheere, Mogadishu’s embattled mayor, quickly blamed al Shabaab insurgents for the deadly explosion, but an Islamist spokesman rejected the accusations. Speaking to reporters at Medina Hospital, the mayor sent his condolences to the families of the deceased while strongly condemning the attackers. Somali insurgents readily claimed responsibility for a deadly battle along Industry Road today, where at least seven people were reported dead. The fighting, which erupted in Yaaqshiid district, pitted allied Somali-Ethiopian government forces against insurgents and led to the country’s rebel Islamic Courts movement.