Miss SA: Too much bloodshed
2002-11-22 21:02
Johannesburg - Vanessa Carreira, Miss South Africa, has expressed shock over the many deaths in the bloody row between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria over the Miss World pageant.
It is shocking that so many people have died over such a silly thing as a beauty contest, Carreira said.
She said it would be best to cancel the pageant in order to stop the fighting.
At least 105 people have died in the fighting that started in Kaduna on Wednesday after a newspaper published a report the Muslim community in the city found offensive.
The Red Cross reported that at least 200 people were injured in the riots. People were stabbed to death and set alight. Churches were burnt down.
A 18:00 to 06:00 curfew is in place and police are patrolling the streets.
Carreira earlier withdrew from the contest in protest against the stoning sentence of a woman who gave birth to a child out of wedlock.