January 2
[ 2007-01-03 13:31 ]
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| The tragedy happened as
fans left the stadium |
| 1971: Sixty-six die in Scottish football
disaster |
England have
Sixty-six football supporters have been killed following a clash
between Celtic and Rangers at the Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow.
The disaster occurred when crush barriers collapsed as thousands of
fans made their way out of the stadium.
Initial reports suggest the tragedy, which happened on stairway 13 of
the stadium, was caused when hundreds of Rangers fans began leaving the
match early believing Celtic had won.
Jimmy Johnstone had scored for Celtic with just a minute to go, but
Colin Stein scored an equalising goal for Rangers during injury time
causing a huge roar to erupt inside the stadium.
According to eye-witnesses, fans attempting to get back up the stairs
after hearing the roar, collided head-on with those coming down the
stairs.
Rescuers, who were on the scene within minutes, tried to force their
way through the crowds, but their efforts were mostly in vain. One man who
managed to struggle out of the crush, described the scene.
"I was making my way out of the stadium down the stairs when suddenly
everything seemed to stop," he said.
"The lads at the back just kept coming forward down the stairs.
"I went down with the rest of the crowd, being pushed and pulled onto
the ground.
"Everyone was struggling to get out, suffocating - it was essentially a
fight for survival. After 10 or 15 minutes I was dragged out by a
policeman and brought to hospital by ambulance."
Eighteen-year-old Margaret Ferguson was the only female fan to be
killed in the tragedy.
Alick Buchanan-Smith, Scottish minister for Home Affairs, has called
for an immediate inquiry into the
disaster. |
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| United Nations troops
guarding the entrance to Tuzla air base |
|
1996: US peacekeepers pour into
Bosnia | Artificially 1969:
The The first
convoy of American combat troops has entered Northern Bosnia to try to
keep the peace between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims, following the signing of
the Dayton peace plan last month.
Commander of NATO armed forces
in Bosnia, Admiral Leighton Smith, appeared on Bosnian Serb TV to try to
reassure Serbs the alliance would be even-handed in implementing the
agreement.
American army units with high artillery have taken over a strategically
important road that separates the two communities, but US soldiers will
not be deployed in the most dangerous areas.
Americans in Bosnia now number 2000, representing the superpower's
first military operation in Europe since the Second World War.
Lt Col Greg Stone, commander of the 1st Cavalry's 1st Squadron, said:
"This is another step, another chapter in history".
Progress has been slowed by the bad weather, which has turned the US
base into a muddy bog. The troops are said to be behind schedule.
The troops are headed to Tuzla air base, the main US base in Bosnia,
where they will then be assigned to 16 bases, set up on both sides of the
confrontation line.
The exact sites for some of the bases are still being worked on by
military planners, officials said.
In Sarajevo the Joint Military Commission, bringing together
peacekeepers and the warring parties, met to discuss the disbanding of
civilian armed groups and the clearance of mines. |
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| Vocabulary:
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artillery : an army unit that uses big
guns（炮兵總稱(chēng)）
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