Ndri Romaric opened the scoring for the hosts in the opening minute in Abidjan before Chelsea striker Drogba doubled the advantage with a seventh-minute penalty.

Another goal from Drogba on the half-hour mark was followed by strikes from his Chelsea team-mate Salomon Kalou (59) and Bakari Kone (70) as the Elephants romped to the top of Group E.

But their victory was overshadowed by reports 19 fans were killed and several more injured when a wall collapsed at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in the capital.

Elsewhere, Prince Tagoe scored the only goal in the opening seconds as Ghana secured a 1-0 win over Benin in Kumasi.

The Black Stars are now top of Group D, two points clear of Mali and Sudan, who drew 1-1 yesterday.

In Group C, all four teams have a single point after Egypt and Zambia played out a 1-1 draw in Cairo, following on from the goalless score-line between Algeria and Rwanda 24 hours earlier.

Wigan frontman Amr Zaki (27) opened the scoring for the hosts but Dennis Banda (56) equalised early in the second half to silence the home crowd and earn his side a share of the spoils.

Finally, Mozambique put in a stern defensive display to deny Nigeria all three points in a 0-0 draw in Maputo.

The two sides are now joint-second in Group B behind Tunisia, who beat Kenya 2-1 yesterday.