Crowds of people streaming into a techno music festival surged through an already jammed entry tunnel on Saturday, setting off a panic that killed 19 people and injured 342 at an event meant to celebrate love and peace.
The circumstances of the stampede at the famed Love Parade festival were still not clear even hours after the chaos, but it appeared that some or most of the 19 had been crushed to death.
Authorities also suggested that some of the people killed or injured might have attempted to flee the crowd by jumping over a barrier and falling several meters (yards). Witnesses described a desperate scene, as people piled up on each other or scrambled over others who had fallen in the crush.
"The young people came to celebrate and instead there are deaths and injured," said Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
Criticism quickly fell on city officials for allowing only one entrance to the grounds of a hugely popular event that drew hundreds of thousands of people to dance and listen to DJs spin. German media said 1.4 million people attended but that figure could not be immediately confirmed.
The founder of the Love Parade, Matthias Roeingh, known by the name Dr. Motte, blasted the planning for the event, saying "one single entrance through a tunnel lends itself to disaster. I am very sad."
City officials chose not to evacuate the site, fearing it might spark more panic, and many people continued partying, unaware of the deaths.
Source: msnbc
The circumstances of the stampede at the famed Love Parade festival were still not clear even hours after the chaos, but it appeared that some or most of the 19 had been crushed to death.
Authorities also suggested that some of the people killed or injured might have attempted to flee the crowd by jumping over a barrier and falling several meters (yards). Witnesses described a desperate scene, as people piled up on each other or scrambled over others who had fallen in the crush.
"The young people came to celebrate and instead there are deaths and injured," said Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
Criticism quickly fell on city officials for allowing only one entrance to the grounds of a hugely popular event that drew hundreds of thousands of people to dance and listen to DJs spin. German media said 1.4 million people attended but that figure could not be immediately confirmed.
The founder of the Love Parade, Matthias Roeingh, known by the name Dr. Motte, blasted the planning for the event, saying "one single entrance through a tunnel lends itself to disaster. I am very sad."
City officials chose not to evacuate the site, fearing it might spark more panic, and many people continued partying, unaware of the deaths.
Source: msnbc
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