World

19 killed in German music festival stampede

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-25 12:39

Revellers enjoy electronic music during the Love Parade "The art of Love" in the western German city of Duisburg July 24, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

German television WDR's reporters said that mobile phone networks were overloaded and the Autobahn 59 highway leading to the city was closed for transporting rescuers at a fast speed.

"There was no escape. People were pressed into the wall. I was afraid I'd die," a witness identified only as Marius told the Bild newspaper.

A 21-year-old festival goer, who identified himself as Fabio, told German news television N-TV that police had been warned by people in the tunnel some 45 minutes before the tragedy.

"We went back through the tunnel, and my girlfriend and I could scarcely breathe. We had to use our elbows to get through. We told the police that it would soon come to a mass panic," he said.

The Love Parade is one of Europe's largest electronic music festivals, which was originally hosted in Berlin from 1989 to 2006. Other German cities began to host it afterwards.

Organizers said that about 1.4 million music fans attended the event on Saturday, with 1,400 police deployed. However, the reception limit of the main field was reported to be 500,000 people. Some witnesses complained that the organizers were not well prepared for the crowds.

Many partygoers were not aware of what had happened, and they sang and danced happily in the large-scale parade and open-door parties for at least one hour after the tragedy.

DJ Dr. Motte, the founder of the Love Parade, told the German news agency DPA that Duisburg organizers provided only one tunnel exit for the crowding music fans, which has proved to be "a huge management mistake."

"How can they let people go through only one tunnel to the grounds? It's a scandal," he said.

Local government spokesman Frank Kopatschek said that officials opted against an immediate evacuation and decided to let the parade go on, fearing the evacuation might spark further panic.

The police have not issued any initial report on the incident so far.

Latest TV footage showed that the tunnel had been cleared and police were trying to slowly guide people away from the main sites of the parade.