A stampede during a celebration of a Muslim holiday at the Asawase Community Center in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Thursday, has claimed nine lives so far.

Six of the dead are females and three males while those injured are receiving treatment at the Manhyia hospital with one person in a critical condition.

It is not clear what caused the stampede but some survivor say, a fight broke out and those inside the Center were in a hurry to get out.

Muslims the world over celebrated Eid-Ul-Fitr on Wednesday to mark the end of the month of Ramadan in which Muslims fast for 29/30 days.

All forms of celebrations are used to mark the occasion.

The event at the community center began at 8 p.m. was to end at 2 a.m Thursday. The center was overcrowded with a reported 500 to 600 people in attendance.

There are conflicting reports as to what happened prior to the stampede.

According to one survivor, Charles Amoa-Boateng who spoke to Joy News' Erastus Asare Donkor, there was a sudden power cut inside the club which caused panic and a mad rush for the exit. Another report said ‘a noise like a gunshot’ was heard from the meter right before the power cut.

He said there was a lot of people wailing and crying in the fight to get out.

“I was bitten by several people in my fight to get out. Some people were stepping on me while others were throwing their hands for help to get out,” he said.

Mr Amoa-Boateng said he was lucky someone heard his cries and pulled him out of the many people struggling to exit, adding, “there was no movement as most of us were suffocating in the heat.”

Another survivor said there was an announcement that a fight had broken out inside the Center which caused people to panic thus headed for the exit.

•Story and photo of scene of the stampede courtesy of .myjoyonline.com

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