ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: What began as a protest by disgruntled soccer fans quickly erupted into chaos Sunday at a stadium in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. And when it was over, 12 people lay dead. Scores more were injured. As CNN's Dawn Tamir reports, witnesses blame police for overreacting.</s>DAWN TAMIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In mass panic, football fans fled for the exits to an eerie backdrop of calming music as tear gas fired by police filled Harare's National Sports Stadium. Players on the field choked on the fumes and splashed water on their faces in an attempt to relieve their blinded and stinging eyes. Police say they were reacting to unruly fans upset by South Africa's second goal. They say the fans were throwing bottles and cans onto the field. The World Cup qualifying match between Zimbabwe and South Africa had drawn a crowd of more than 60,000, a crowd so large that when panic set in, it crushed at least 12 people to death, and injured many others, some severely. And authorities fear the death toll could rise. Some blame police for the deaths, saying they incited the stampede.</s>MARK GLEESON, SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Today's action was perhaps a little premature by the police hitting the tear gas all so quickly. You know, there was a lot of stone throwing, bottle throwing, but you know, there is only so many number of bottles people have in the crowd. They were almost finished throwing. There were no more bottles to throw. And then all of a sudden, one guy hit the tear gas and I think that was a bit hasty.</s>TAMIR: But officials defend their action, saying it was justified.</s>HISHAM AZMY, MATCH COMMISSIONER: This is a sad day for football, because we do not accept such attitude from people and such behavior from spectators who understand football.</s>TAMIR: With eight minutes left in the game and the score 2-0, South Africa was declared the winner. But no one walked away victorious from this match. Dawn Tamir, CNN.
Twelve Dead After Stampede at World Cup Qualifying Match in Zimbabwe