Death toll at German music fest rises to 19
Source: Agencies |
July 26, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE death toll at a German music festival rose to 19 yesterday and police said that 342 others had been injured in a panicked crush of partygoers in a tunnel that served as the sole entrance to what was billed as the world's largest techno music party.
The organizer of the Love Parade said the event, which had been held for two decades, would never be held again.
"The Love Parade was always a peaceful event and a happy party" but would forever be overshadowed by the tragedy," Rainer Schaller said. "It's over for the Love Parade."
He was speaking at a press conference where authorities faced tough questions, but provided few details, about why hundreds of thousands of people were funneled through a single highway underpass onto the grounds of former freight railway station used to host the party on Saturday.
Rainer Wendt, leader of a major German police union, told the Bild newspaper that his group warned a year ago in vain that Duisbur, a city near Duesseldorf in western Germany, was an unacceptable location for the Love Parade.
"The city is too narrow, too small to manage the masses of people," Wendt said.
Duisburg police chief Detlef von Schmeling said 16 of the 19 people killed had been identified so far. He said they include four foreigners - an Australian, an Italian, a Chinese citizen and a person from Holland.
He said their ages ranged from just over 20 to 40.
Witnesses said officers in Duisburg closed the end of the tunnel emptying onto the festival grounds after they became overcrowded at around 5pm. They told revelers over loudspeakers to turn around and walk back in the other direction.
But the entrance to the tunnel did not appear to have been closed and people continued piling in, sparking a panic and then a deadly crush.
Witnesses described a desperate scene, as people piled up on each other or scrambled over others who had fallen.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, voiced shock that an event meant to celebrate youth, peace and love could turn so deadly. "The young people came to celebrate and instead they are dead and injured," she said. "I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
The organizer of the Love Parade said the event, which had been held for two decades, would never be held again.
"The Love Parade was always a peaceful event and a happy party" but would forever be overshadowed by the tragedy," Rainer Schaller said. "It's over for the Love Parade."
He was speaking at a press conference where authorities faced tough questions, but provided few details, about why hundreds of thousands of people were funneled through a single highway underpass onto the grounds of former freight railway station used to host the party on Saturday.
Rainer Wendt, leader of a major German police union, told the Bild newspaper that his group warned a year ago in vain that Duisbur, a city near Duesseldorf in western Germany, was an unacceptable location for the Love Parade.
"The city is too narrow, too small to manage the masses of people," Wendt said.
Duisburg police chief Detlef von Schmeling said 16 of the 19 people killed had been identified so far. He said they include four foreigners - an Australian, an Italian, a Chinese citizen and a person from Holland.
He said their ages ranged from just over 20 to 40.
Witnesses said officers in Duisburg closed the end of the tunnel emptying onto the festival grounds after they became overcrowded at around 5pm. They told revelers over loudspeakers to turn around and walk back in the other direction.
But the entrance to the tunnel did not appear to have been closed and people continued piling in, sparking a panic and then a deadly crush.
Witnesses described a desperate scene, as people piled up on each other or scrambled over others who had fallen.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, voiced shock that an event meant to celebrate youth, peace and love could turn so deadly. "The young people came to celebrate and instead they are dead and injured," she said. "I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
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