11 concertgoers died in stampede at the stadium in South Korea

Concertgoers trying to enter a stadium Monday sparked a stampede, killing eight women and three boys, and injuring 72 others, officials said.

The accident occurred at about 5:40 p.m. (0840 GMT) in the city of Sangju, 270 kilometers (165 miles) southeast of Seoul, when 20,000 people were waiting to enter a stadium for a concert that had been organized by a television network, said Kim Sung-in, an official with the city government's disaster management division.

Kim said 11 people died when one of the gates opened to let the audience inside, and that the death toll could rise by another one or two.

Another city official said the dead were eight women aged from 54 to 76, along with three boys aged 7, 12 and 14. Another 72 people were injured, said the official, who refused to give his name. The stadium could accommodate 20,000 people, and the event was canceled after the stampede, the AP reports.

The concert was for a program of old Korean pop songs popular among the elderly, part of a weekly show televised nationally on the MBC network. AM