Pearl Jam concert turns deadly At least 9 killed, more injured during
Denmark rock festival Victims are loaded into ambulances outside the
Roskilde festival, 25 miles west of Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday, after
fans were crushed to death during a Pearl Jam concert.
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 30 — Fans rushed the stage during a Pearl
Jam concert in Denmark Friday night at one of Europe's largest rock
festivals, crushing to death at least nine people and injuring over two
dozen others, police said.
Members of Pearl Jam implored the crowd to move back because people
were being pressed up against the stage ...
"ALL IN ALL nine died in the disaster; three were
seriously injured. Twenty-six had to undergo hospital treatment," a
Copenhagen police spokesman told Reuters.
Members of the rock band appealed to the crowd to move
back but were unable to prevent the massive surge forward, Danish radio
reported.
The rush occurred at 11:40 p.m., police said, adding that
the identities of the victims were not immediately available.
The stage where the deaths occured was one of seven
stages hosting performances during the four-day event, Europe's largest.
About 100,000 tickets were sold, but it was not immediately clear how
many people attended the concert.
It rained much of Friday, and the festival grounds were
muddy. With the crowd edging ever closer, the band called on fans to
move back, festival spokesman Leif Skov said. The message was repeated
by loudspeakers.
SPECTATORS TUMBLE OVER EACHOTHER
"At one point, a group of some 15 spectators collapsed en
masse in front of the rostrum and people behind them began
uncontrollably tumbling over them," a witness said. "It was obvious what
was going to happen."
Pearl Jam broke off its performance, and the next show by
the British band The Cure was canceled in "respect for the dead," Skov
said. The deaths were announced over loudspeakers, and some
concert-goers began crying, Danish radio reported.
Performances at the six other stages continued Friday
night and were scheduled to resume on the main stage Saturday afternoon.
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The annual festival began Thursday and is scheduled to
end Sunday.
First held in 1971, the Roskilde festival was inspired by
the 1969 Woodstock Festival in the United States. It is held each year
on a farm in Roskilde, 25 miles west of the capital, Copenhagen.
In 1979, 11 people were trampled to death in Cincinnati,
Ohio, as they rushed for choice seats before the start of a concert by
the British rock band The Who.
Last year, 52 people were killed and 150 were injured at
a concert in Minsk, Belarus, in a stampede that began when a hailstorm
hit and hundreds of fans ran from the concert to a subway station.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this
report.
Roskilde Festival Web site
Local coverage in Jyllands-Posten newspaper
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