Death toll from German music festival rises to 19
DUISBURG, Germany
The founder of the Love Parade said it 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 said.
He spoke 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 into the former freight railway station used to host the
party.
German media reported that there were at least 1.4 million
people but police did not immediately confirm that estimate.
Witnesses said officers in Duisburg, a city near Duesseldorf in
western Germany, closed the end of the tunnel emptying onto the
festival grounds after they become overcrowded around 5 p.m. 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.
Partygoer Udo Sandhoefer told n-tv television that even though
no one else was being let in, people still streamed into the
tunnel, causing "a real mass panic."
"At some point the column (of people) got stuck, probably
because everything was closed up front, and we saw that the first
people were already lying on the ground," he said.
City officials chose not to evacuate the site, fearing it might
spark more panic, and many people continued partying, unaware of
the deaths.Rescue workers carried away the injured as techno music
thundered in the background.
Other workers had trouble getting to the victims, hampered by
the huge crowds. Local media reported that the cell phone system in
Duisburg broke down temporarily and frantic parents trying to reach
their children instead drove to the scene to look for them.
However, most streets downtown were blocked by police and the
highways leading to the city were jammed. Several media outlets
also reported that rescue helicopters had problems taking away the
heavily injured because there was not enough space for them to
land.
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."
German authorities also have not identified the victims yet, but
the Dutch Foreign Ministry said that a 22-year-old Dutch man was
among then.
German leaders, including 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 there are dead
and injured," Merkel said Saturday. "I am horrified by the
suffering and the pain."
It was the worst accident of its kind since nine people were
crushed to death and 43 more were injured at a rock festival in
Roskilde, Denmark, in 2000. That fatal accident occurred when a
huge crowd pushed forward during a Pearl Jam gig.
The Love Parade, where people from across Europe gather to
dance, watch floats and listen to DJs spin, was once an institution
in Berlin, but has been held in the industrial Ruhr region of
western Germany since 2007.
The original Berlin Love Parade grew from a 1989 peace
demonstration into a huge outdoor celebration of club culture that
drew about 1.5 million people at its peak in 1999. But it suffered
from financial problems and tensions with city officials in later
years, and eventually moved.
The website of the Love Parade -- whose motto this year was "The
Art of Love -- went black on Saturday night, with words in white
saying:
"Our wish to arrange a happy togetherness was overshadowed by
the tragic accidents today. ... Our sincere condolences to all the
relatives and our thoughts are with all of those who are currently
being taken care of."