Stampede at Love Parade in Germany kills 18

[Buck_Choi]

At least 18 techno music fans have been crushed to death and 80 injured when mass panic triggered a stampede at the Love Parade festival in the German city of Duisburg, officials say.

PHOTOS: Crowd crush at festival

Around 15 others were seriously hurt and dozens more sustained lighter injuries as a crush occurred in or around a tunnel leading to the day-long open air festival, attended, officials said, by some 1.4 million revellers.

"According to our current information, 18 people have died and around 80 people have been injured at the entrance to the festival grounds," the mayor of the host city Duisburg, Adolf Sauerland, in a statement.

The exact causes of the disaster were unclear and it was not certain whether foreigners were among the dead at the event, which attracts thousands from all around the world.

Police initially said the crush happened in the tunnel itself but an official from Duisburg, a city of 500,000 just north of Duesseldorf, said others also died on steps leading towards it.

Most revellers remained unaware of the incident and continued dancing and listening to the music long afterwards as authorities kept a lid on the news to avoid another panic.

Eyewitnesses said the horrific scenes were "unimaginable."

One young female partygoer told Die Welt daily: "Everywhere you looked, there were people with blue faces."

"My boyfriend pulled me out over the bodies, otherwise we would both have died in there. How can I ever forget those faces. The faces of the dead."

Another witness told the NTV rolling news channel that several people had fallen to the ground and had been trampled underfoot.

"Some people were on the ground while others were climbing up the walls," said the witness, Udo Sandhoefer.

Police officers and security officials tried to get into the tunnel "but it was already too full," he added.

"People kept trying to get into the tunnel for about 10 minutes, then realised what had happened and turned around," he said.

Another 18-year-old witness named Marius told the Bild daily: "There was no way of escaping. There was a wall of people in front of me. I was scared I was going to die."

Panicked friends and family sent a raft of messages on Twitter in a bid to locate missing partygoers.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "aghast" at the catastrophe.

"In these difficult hours, my thoughts are with the relatives of the victims. They have my sympathy and my condolences."

"Young people came to party. Instead, there was death and injury. I am aghast and saddened by the sorrow and the pain," she said in a statement.

President Christian Wulff said: "Such a catastrophe that has caused death, sorrow and pain during a peaceful festival involving young people from many countries is dreadful."

Shock turned quickly to anger as partygoers criticised organisers for only allowing one entrance through the tunnel to the festival.

There was "simply nowhere to get out" of the area around the tunnel, one survivor told WDR television.

Focus magazine quoted the founder of the Love Parade, who goes by the name of Dr Motte (Dr Moth), as saying: "The organisers are to blame ... they showed not the slightest responsibility for people."

The influential mass circulation daily Bild asked on its website: "Why did the police let people carry on the party?"

Sauerland defended the security and vowed to hold a comprehensive enquiry.

"In the run-up to the event, we worked out a solid security plan with the organisers and everyone involved," he said.

"The investigations that have already been launched must uncover the precise course of events."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/793460 ... y-kills-15

[CBG]

read this before, cbf posting it lol.

pretty crazy, even crazier that they kept it going! haha

[Cupe]

lol wut

[Jaz]

on the news all day,condolences to the victims and family's, some of the video is hectic as, there are a few uploads starting to get around that the news cant show,i wouldnt waste your time and mind watching them though....

[tubby]

Was recipe for disaster, that big crowd with one tunnel for entry

most of the festival would have no idea what happened, but sounds macabre with the pounding beat whilt ppl are dying

[krsjuan]

it sounds wack. but i think they did the right thing by keeping the festival going. everyones been at concerts/events where the dj has fcuked up or the equipment has blown, and seen how the crowd generally reacts. i think by stopping the event they would have just added to the overcrowding and hecticness of the whole situation. terrible thing to happen anyhow

[tubby]

that tunnel, which was apparently the only way in, might well have been one of the few ways out as well, so no chance to close the festival down safely

[Trip]

I cant believe how cavalier some of you are being.

people died. try and imagine the horror of falling down and having no chance of getting back up again.

Love parade will never happen again because of this. The organisers have alot to answer for.

[CBG]

the thing is though man, ppl die at events all the time. 3 ppl died in the crowd that celebrated the Spain WC win. I'm not saying this its ok or not sad, but it is common and just one of those things that can occasionally happen...allthough not ussually to this scale.

Yes, very poor organisation. I believe the police were trying to stop ppl getting in. You get a big compacted group of ppl, 50% probably on drugs, 25% probably on some sort mind altering drug.. you've got trouble.

[BeatLeSS]

You get a big compacted group of ppl, 50% probably on drugs, 25% probably on some sort mind altering drug.. you've got trouble.

I lol'ed.

[CBG]

lol. NOt so funny when you lose your shit on drugs man. Totally self inflicted though

[Skank]

aparently the deathtoll is 19

[CBG]

yeah well 80 were injured, some were probably critical, meaning near death...

[Cupe]

aparently the deathtoll is 19

i saw this too. i assume ops post was very recent to the event and a total tally wasn't determined

[LabRat]

best wishes go out to all involved. i've always wanted to go to a love parade festival but it looks like those dreams are over. sad it had to end this way