The Loveparade 2010, which took place in Duisburg this weekend, ended in a deadly tragedy due to a mass panic on Saturday evening. According to the German news source spiegel.de, officials confirmed today that 19 partygoers died and 342 were injured in a stampede at Europe's largest electronic music event.
The mass panic happened when people were pushing through an overcrowded tunnel, which lead to the Love Parade festival grounds - it was the lone entrance to the music festival with its 1.4 million visitors. In panic, revelers tried to climb up steep staircases, and metal barricades; many of them fell off and onto the people below, which triggered the stampede.
While German Prosecutors opened an investigation into the causes of the deadly tragedy, the country remains in deep shock. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "The young people came to celebrate and instead there are dead and injured. I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
The mayor of Duisburg, Adolf Sauerland, said on Sunday, "I don't find words for the depth of my sorrow. This accident is so horrifying that you cannot describe it."
truly unbelievable… i’m trying to put myself then &there and i can’t even imagine it… this is so sad..
I thought Love Parade was a dance gathering not necessary a techno music event…
do not start to manipulate the truth discriminating a musical genre…
Ask therefore why authorities gave the authorization for that location, we all know how many people usually attends the event…
I was inside the tunnel, attempting to exit, when the mass panic began. My friends and I walked over a ‘floor’ of unconscious people. There was an ‘every man for himself’ attitude in the tunnel. By the grace of God we got out. Horrible – just horrible!
This is very sad. I can just say how sorry I am for the family members of those. It truely touches me that something that was supposed to be fun turns out to be the end of their lifes.
I can’t stop crying. This is just so tragic.
I feel very sad, Rest in peace.
I keep reading reports all over the web saying things like “through a tunnel which was the only entrance to the festival” which is simply not true. The tunnel was the only entrance to the part of the grounds where the “final rally” was being held.
It was this part of the grounds that was too small for the crowds that had turned up, and it was as people were making their way from the parade route through the tunnel to the final rally that the tragedy occurred.
Apologies my mistake, I was wrong….. The pictures/vids I had seen it looked different. Such a sad day though…. R.I.P