The ‘biggest party in the world’ ended in tragedy when mass panic swept through the Love Parade, leaving 15 dead in Germany. Keep reading to find out more and see photos and a raw video from the scene.
Mass Panic: Love Parade, 15 Dead in Germany
Love Parade 2010 ended in tragedy when over-crowding at the entrance gate resulted in a stampede through a tunnel that left 15 people dead and numerous others injured. The Love Parade: The Art of Love is a techno-music festival held in Duisburg, Germany, near Duesseldorf. This year it was held today, on July 14, 2010 and The Art of Love turned into a mass panic.
The festival got started with loudspeakers on 16 floats blaring out the beats and bass of the new anthem of ‘Love Parade 2010′, The Art of Love throughout the former freight depot in Duisburg. The entrance gate was jammed with thousands of would-be revelers attempting to get into the festival. The parade grounds were jammed with over a million people and police started attempting to prevent thousands more from entering, setting off the deadly panic and stampede.
The stampede started at the entrance gate and swept through a tunnel that led to the parade grounds. Police started announcing over loud-speakers that the grounds were full and people should turn around and walk the other way. People continued trying to get into the tunnel, trapping those already going through the tunnel. Eye-witness Udo Sandhoefer related what he saw:
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.
Others climbed up the walls and tried somehow to get into the grounds from the side, and the people in the crowd that moved up simply ran over those who were lying on the ground.
Police Commissioner Juergen Kieskemper said the scene was ‘very chaotic’ and investigators are still trying to determine what happened at Love Parade 2010. Emergency workers had difficulty getting to the victims inside the tunnel, which is about 600-yards long. They said bodies were lying all around on the ground The injured were put in Red Cross vans and driven away.
Duisburg city officials held an emergency meeting and decided to let the Love Parade festival continue for fear attempting to close the festivities would create another panic.
The Love Parade originated in Berlin in 1989 as a peace demonstration. The celebration moved to Duisburg in the Ruhr region of western Germany in 2007.
At this point the mass panic at the Love Parade has left 15 dead in Germany, 9 women and 6 men.
Below you can see more pictures of before and after the mass panic at the ‘Love Parade’ that left 15 dead in Germany. There is also a raw video of the scene.
Sad.
The death toll is up to 18 now.
Man, that’s really too bad.
I can’t even begin to imagine…so sorry for all involved.
Oh man.
I don’t understand how they could set it in a place that holds 300,000 people while the numbers of the parade have been above 1 million for years now. I just don’t understand it!!
Love Parade Forever Canceled After Stampede Tragedy (Video)…
Organizers of the Love Parade say the event will be canceled forever after the stampede tragedy over the weekend. Read more below, see photos and a video of the event. The death toll of the Love Parade mass panic over the weekend has risen to 20 people…
How could someone just turn his back and walk back to the entrance if bunches of people are pushing you from the back ?? the security people are ready crazy.
Why is it that “the police” always seem to be the constant variable in sht like this.
Its f-king bullsht.