Namibia narrowly misses barbeque world record attempt

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

WINDHOEK (AFP) — Namibia narrowly missed its first ever attempt to break a world record after safety fears forced organizers to abandon what could have been the world's biggest ever barbeque. Thousands of people had gathered at a sports stadium in the Namibian capital Windhoek to feast on an eight-kilometre (five-mile) long sausage in an effort to beat the record set by Australia 13 years previously.

But after the barbeque, organisers said the crowd began pushing at the gates, forcing them to stop the count "to avoid people getting trampled". Namibia needed to feed 44,159 people to break the Guinness World Record and when organisers called off the counting they were just 152 short. "We got a counted 44,007 people by sunset," event organizer Allen Brough said. "We marked...