Tragedy ·
Seven Killed in Port Louis Social Club Fire After Football Riots
Fire Brigade’s victory over Scouts Club was followed by violence on 23 May 1999. The next day, police reported two arrests in connection with the fire; the attackers’ precise motive remained unclear.
On 23 May 1999, Fire Brigade beat Scouts Club in a football match in Mauritius. Rioting followed in the capital, Port Louis. That night, seven people died in a deliberately set fire at a social club. Two of the dead were children.
The BBC reported the next day that hundreds of Scouts supporters had gone on the rampage, setting sugar cane fields alight and attacking police vehicles. Police said rioters had thrown petrol bombs into a casino, burning seven people to death. The attack occurred amid the disorder, but the reason for choosing the building was less clear.
The U.S. State Department’s report on Mauritius for 1999 described the game as a national championship match between historically Creole and historically Muslim teams. It identified the burned premises as a Chinese social club and said the fire was set by predominantly Muslim demonstrators who rioted after the game.
The report, released on 25 February 2000, said the precise motive for the arson remained unclear. Unnamed observers believed the club was targeted because it permitted gambling, served alcohol and allegedly permitted prostitution near the city’s main mosque. These were proposed explanations, not an established motive.
By 24 May, police had arrested two people in connection with the fire. The arrests did not themselves establish who set it.