"The event was staged in an old industrial railway station. The capacity of the enclosed location was limited to 500,000 people at most, but at least one million visitors were expected, based on the experience of previous years. Commentators in Der Westen, a local newspaper, had warned of impending disaster two days before the event.[6]
Entrance was granted at 14:00 CEST (12:00 UTC). Between 100,000 and 200,000 people per hour entered the location through the 20 m wide tunnel.[citation needed] The 200 to 300 metre-long tunnel was the only entrance and exit point of the festival area.[7] Around 17:00, just before the final act of the day was to begin, the tunnel became overcrowded and a panic occurred.
The parade area reportedly had become overcrowded and police at the entrance began announcing over loudspeakers that new arrivals should turn around and head back.[2][3] The side of the tunnel that was the entry of the parade area was closed, but people continued to enter the tunnel from the rear, despite being told it was closed. A stampede occurred as the tunnel became overcrowded."
What is really outrageous: there were several people warning that this might happen: link [6] in the wikipedia article f.e. . It is unbelievable. Not only were they planning this thing for 500,000 people while over 1,000,000 attended at previous events. They also KNEW that there is only this tunnel leading to the area and that it would cause problems in case of a panic.
It's disgusting really. I dont know yet who to blame and will edit this tomorrow I guess. God I'm so angry, how can people be so fucking incompetent that something like this could happen?
Yeah. I can't really figure out what they were thinking. Panic in massive events like these aren't that uncommon.
So what happens if you pack a million people into a tunnel, and people start getting packed into each other and start feeling klaustrophobic and some people freak out / start hyperventilating? Panic. With no real emergencies getaways, it will lead into a massive stampede.
It's just silly that something like that would happen. Now it seems their cancelling the whole event. Still sucks that it happened.
It's a good example of what usually happens in large groups. Chain-reactions are created and the people refuse to think clearly. Ironical name though given the circumstances.
experts said the area is ok for up to 350k people. love parade is always 1.5million+ . there was ONE entrance. which also was the ONLY exit. they were warned by several other groups that its dangerous but they went for it.
sad that something like that can happen in germany where pretty much evrything is double checked usually.
Things like this always make me so pissed off at the stupidity of people. Apparently, it takes the deaths of 19 people to realize, "Wow. Having a million people herded through a tunnel intended for only half that amount at most might be a really bad idea."
I can't really be mad at the people who still decided to enter from the rear though. Research shows time and time again that people in groups tend to do incredibly stupid things.
What makes me mad the most though is that the tragedy clearly could have been avoided.
I think it's for the better that it happened. This will not only deter people from coming to future loveparades, but also deter people from attending overcrowded events as a whole.
Lots of people are blaming the organizers. Sure, it's easy to do that. But I say blame the people who attended (or at least those that were involved in the stampede).
Why do I say that? Because I've been involved in something similar. Although probably not as big. I was smart enough to stand my ground and not try to walk through anyone. I even helped a poor girl stay upright as people started pushing everyone around.
It's easy to blame people who try to organize events. But just because there's an event doesn't mean you should be allowed to go to it. The retards that forced their way through the tunnel should be charged with negligence (they were told not to go through).
edit: Wikipedia is not a valid source for information. If you're going to use wikipedia at all, use the sources that people use in wikipedia as a STARTING POINT, do some reasearch, then quote the direct sources, not a publicly edited source like Wikipedia.
On July 26 2010 08:08 Chairman Ray wrote: I think it's for the better that it happened. This will not only deter people from coming to future loveparades, but also deter people from attending overcrowded events as a whole.
it just disgusts me that people kept packing in at the entrance, how fucking hard is it to see you cant fit more people in, and from what ive read the police even informed them that no more people can fit inside and that everyone should turn back, but people kept trying to get in anyways like a herd of damn animals, big crowds scare me more than anything, that mentality. Ive been crushed by big crowds before, and its been no ones fault but the fucking morons that kept pushing from the back for no reason at all.
On July 26 2010 08:08 Chairman Ray wrote: I think it's for the better that it happened. This will not only deter people from coming to future loveparades, but also deter people from attending overcrowded events as a whole.
Do you honestly believe that? That people will learn from their mistakes and always think back to the massacre of the 24th of July, 2010, whenever an event might get crowded? That there aren't already tons of occurrences every year where people had to die for the stupidest of reasons?
And I'm going to pretend that what you meant to say is, "It's tragic that these people died. I hope this serves as a lesson for future events."
Dang, that's pretty intense. We have LoveFest over here in California which can get pretty crowded also. Luckily they close off 4 streets and there's a park in the middle so something like that can't really happen. I have seen multiple people overdosing or passed out from heat exhaustion though, not really sure if some of them survived
On July 26 2010 08:08 Chairman Ray wrote: I think it's for the better that it happened. This will not only deter people from coming to future loveparades, but also deter people from attending overcrowded events as a whole.
I hate this post so much
If it takes people dying in order to tell even organizers to choose their locations wisely, and to tell people to not flood a certain place when told to go back, then it was going to happen sooner or later. You can take your pick when and where it happens, and how many people die from it. I think it could have been a lot worse.
On July 26 2010 08:10 twiggy wrote: Lots of people are blaming the organizers. Sure, it's easy to do that. But I say blame the people who attended (or at least those that were involved in the stampede).
Why do I say that? Because I've been involved in something similar. Although probably not as big. I was smart enough to stand my ground and not try to walk through anyone. I even helped a poor girl stay upright as people started pushing everyone around.
It's easy to blame people who try to organize events. But just because there's an event doesn't mean you should be allowed to go to it. The retards that forced their way through the tunnel should be charged with negligence (they were told not to go through).
Wtf? So its ok to assume everybody is as smart as you are, when dealing with a crowd of 1.5 million? There is no way in hell that 1.5 million people in a space for less than half of that will be orderly, nowhere you go. Let that happen then say it is the peoples fault? I might have misunderstood, but this makes no sense at all.
On July 26 2010 08:12 besiger wrote: it just disgusts me that people kept packing in at the entrance, how fucking hard is it to see you cant fit more people in
Maybe it's a good thing that they didn't know something was going on.. It could have been bigger otherwise.
EPT
