At least 16 people have died and dozens have been injured in a crush at a famous mosque in the north-east Malian city of Timbuktu, reports said Friday.
The accident happened Thursday evening as crowds flocked to Djinguereber mosque during the festival of Maouloud, which celebrates the birth of the prophet Mohammed, DPA reported.
"There was a panic in the alleyways ... it seemed like an old person fell ... people fell one upon the other," a witness told Radio France International.
Police said a provisional count had revealed 16 dead, including several children.
Renovations may have helped cause the panic by forcing people to take an alternative, narrower route as they circled the 14th century mud mosque, some reports said.
At least 16 dead in Timbuktu mosque crush
