Human rights groups in Guinea say they believe more than 135 football fans, many of them children, died in Sunday’s stadium crush.
An unverified figure, far exceeded The official death toll is 56.
The groups said the estimate was based on information from hospitals, cemeteries, witnesses at stadiums, victims’ families, mosques, churches and local media. More than 50 people are still missing, it said.
However, the military government has warned against the spread of “unverified” information, saying its investigations into the disaster in the country’s second-largest city, Nazaré, are ongoing.
Justice Minister Yaya Kairaba Kaba said he had instructed to open a judicial investigation against the alleged perpetrators.
Anyone spreading “unverified or malicious information” will be arrested and prosecuted, he said.
The fatal incident followed a controversial refereeing decision during the match, which led to violence.
Police responded with tear gas as people tried to flee.
But rights groups blamed the deaths on the game’s organizers and Guinea’s ruling military junta, which held the tournament in honor of President Mamadi Doumbouya.
A group of rights groups in Nzérékoré said tear gas was used excessively in the surrounding area, with vehicles carrying officers leaving the stadium also hitting civilians trying to escape.
Prime Minister Mamadou Ouri Bah on Tuesday announced three days of national mourning for the victims.
The country “is in mourning and we must respect the mourning of Guinea and the families,” government spokesman Ousmane Gouval told the local Guineanews site in response to a question about the number of victims.
“The government publishes provisional figures and someone comes up with other figures, where is the contradiction? We did not say these are the final figures,” he was quoted as saying.
A local journalist from Nzérékoré previously spoke to the BBC saying the stadium was “packed to the rafters” with thousands of people before the deadly incident.
Paul Sakaougi said the stadium had “only one exit… it was very small” where the crush occurred as people tried to run away.
Guinea is among several African countries currently banned from hosting international football matches for not meeting international standards.
Others banned by the Confederation of African Football (KF) from such matches include Ethiopia, Gambia, Chad and Sierra Leone.
