Gambian national football team makes emergency landing on the way to Ivory Coast for AFCON

A plane carrying the Gambian national football team on their way to Ivory Coast made an emergency landing after a sudden loss of oxygen during its flight.

According to the Gambia Sports Federation in a press release on facebook, the chartered flight on Wednesday carrying the Gambian “Scorpions” returned to Gambia’s capital, Banjul, after flying for nine minutes when the crew realized there were technical problems.

“Upon landing, preliminary investigations indicated that there was a loss of cabin pressure and oxygen,” the federation added.

The airline Air Cote d’Ivoire is currently assessing the situation to determine the cause of the lack of oxygen and pressure in the cabin.

Gambian national football team on the way to Ivory Coast for AFCON

Gambia’s Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet, who was on the plane said the team had narrowly escaped death where they all suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning to the extent that some players did not wake up immediately after landing.

In an Instagram post, Gambian player Saidy Janko said the lack of oxygen left people with severe headaches and extreme dizziness, with people falling asleep within minutes of takeoff.

The team is expected to take another flight to Ivory Coast on Thursday afternoon and travel to the town of Yamoussoukro where some matches are taking place, the federation said.

Dolupo Balogun

Written by Boom RadioNG