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==The aftermath==
==The aftermath==


The Government's Culture Minister and the city council's Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture ([[Councillor Martin Mullaney]]) blamed the near tragedy on bad weather and a failure of the fencing for the incident, but local MP for [[Perry Barr]], [[Khalid Mahmood]] blamed the city council's lack of preparations prior to the event. A government enquiry has been launched in to what had actually happened at the event <ref>[[http://www.mns.co.uk/01219831.html]]</ref>.
The Government's Culture Minister and the city council's Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture ([[Councillor Martin Mullaney]]) blamed the near tragedy on bad weather and a failure of the fencing for the incident, but local MP for [[Perry Barr]], [[Khalid Mahmood]] blamed the city council's lack of preparations prior to the event. A government enquiry has been launched in to what had actually happened at the event <ref>[[http://www.mns.co.uk/01219831.html]]</ref><ref>[[http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/11/17/inquiry-ordered-into-birmingham-christmas-lights-chaos-65233-25187761/]]</ref>
<ref>[[http://www.lgcplus.com/news/council-news/council-defends-crowd-crush-response/5008581.article]]</ref>
<ref>[[http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/091117/340/itkp4.html&e=l_news_dm]]</ref>
<ref>[[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6574452/JLS-Christmas-lights-injuries-Council-defends-organisation.html]]</ref>.


All parties agreed that the late surge of fans from outside of the main event were poorly handled and that the council could have erected big plasma [[television|TV]] screens outside the event for those unable to get in. <ref name="telegraph-sixty"/><ref name="bbc-condemn"/>
All parties agreed that the late surge of fans from outside of the main event were poorly handled and that the council could have erected big plasma [[television|TV]] screens outside the event for those unable to get in. <ref name="telegraph-sixty"/><ref name="bbc-condemn"/>
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[[Category:September]]
[[Category:September]]
[[Category:2009]]
[[Category:2009]]


<ref>[[]]</ref>

Revision as of 19:36, 17 November 2009

The 2009 Birmingham, Millennium Point stampede, occurred on 14th November 2009, when hundreds of people broke through a temporary metal barrier causing various injuries to fans during the Birmingham Christmas Lights Switch-On[1], while JLS were performing.

Council preparation

Because a free pop music concert and fireworks show was planned, sections of Millennium Point were fenced off and either marshals and/or police stationed at a few points so as to prevent any minor crimes, like pickpocketing. Trouble breaking out may have been contibuted by party goers becoming over excited, plus the unofficial presence of alcohol[2][3] [4]

Birmingham city Councillor Martin Mullaney later stated it was a failure of the fencing at Millennium Point which was the main problem, since the wind broke the solid-steel fencing down during the night and it was then replaced, with the hessian fencing used on building sites and extra security personnel.[2][3] [4] [5][6]

The bands and solo artists that were scheduled to play

Fifteen bands and soloists were scheduled to play at the event and included- Mini Viva, Girls Can’t Catch, Calvin Harris, Taio Cruz, the Noisettes, Little Boots, Pixie Lott, Chipmunk, Eoghan Quigg, Natalie Imbruglia, Tinchy Stryder, JLS, the Sugababes and Alexandra Burke. [3] [4] [5] [7] [8][9] [10][11]

Crowd numbers

According to reports, about 20,000 to 21,000 (officially) or 27,000 people (police estimates) turned up for a show at Millennium Point, which had been expected to attract just 5,000 fans. [12][3] [4] [13] [5] [8][9][14] [15]

The 'JLS effect'

In December 2008 during a concert in Croydon, about 2,000 fans turned up; not the planned 1,500. Five people were slightly injured at the event. A teenage girl had an asthma attack followed by a panic attack in the wake of it, and a man was taken back to his home in West Wickham Street after choking on a drink during the concert. The teenager told the Croydon Guardian she was helped from the crowd after suffering both an asthma and panic attack due to the chaotic situation. The woman had been queuing since 1:00 pm and had noted that when the school kids turned up it became really busy and then the kids started pushing their way in, squashing those at the front of the queues. She also recalled that a pregnant woman was in the crowd and neither of them could move or get out. Officers from the Metropolitan Police said they were called to the bash at Fairfield Halls, Croydon, at 4:00 pm (GMT) after being alerted to a crushing incident at a local free music event [13][2][16] [17][18][19][20].

A similar event, in Hull, shortly afterwards attracted 3,000 people, but no one was hurt that time. A fairly popular gig in Manchester had also passed over peacefully [21][22] .

The event

The free event, organised by 96.4FM BRMB Radio and Birmingham City Council, was to kick off at 2pm, followed by the big Christmas lights switch-on at 7.30 pm and finishing with a fireworks display.[12][3] [4] [13] [5][8] [23] [24] [25] [26]

Crowds began to swell at about 1:30 pm in Jennens Lane as a crowd of about 20,000 to 21,000 began to push at the inadequate fencing. At the end of the JLS performance, another 7,000 or so young fans charged in to the area before the Sugarbabes could start their act and the police were overwhelmed.[12][3] [4] [13] [5][8] [27] [28] [29] [30] Some of the fans apparently became angry with the way the concert was being marshalled and began to throw umbrellas, drinks bottles and cans at the police and marshalls[31].

The rest of the concert and lights switch-on were immediately cancelled as paramedics set up a special triage area to treat the wounded. Birmingham City Council stated: "due to safety concerns an emergency meeting was held and a joint decision was made between Birmingham City Council, BRMB, Millennium Point and the Emergency Services to cancel the event following JLS’s fantastic performance."[12][3] [4] [13] [5][8] [32] [33] [34] [35]

Casualties

Some 64 fans were injured, 4 critically, 2 of whom had major crush injures. Two persons were crushed under a metal barrier as it collapsed in the stampede and another two were knocked to the ground by the initial surge according to West Midlands Police.West Midlands Ambulance Service denied there had been any fatalities at the crush. Calvin Harris expressed his concerns over the lack of prevision for the growing crowds.[12][3] [4] [13] [5][36][8] [37] [38]

The aftermath

The Government's Culture Minister and the city council's Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture (Councillor Martin Mullaney) blamed the near tragedy on bad weather and a failure of the fencing for the incident, but local MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood blamed the city council's lack of preparations prior to the event. A government enquiry has been launched in to what had actually happened at the event [39][40] [41] [42] [43].

All parties agreed that the late surge of fans from outside of the main event were poorly handled and that the council could have erected big plasma TV screens outside the event for those unable to get in. [12][3] [4] [13] [5] [44] [45][46] [47]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dozens hurt in lights switch-on". BBC News.
  2. ^ a b c Aspinall, Adam (2009-11-15). "Birmingham Christmas lights disaster: MP feared another Hillsborough tragedy". Sunday Mercury. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Concert-goers condemn crush chaos". BBC News. 2009-11-15. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Dozens hurt in lights switch-on". BBC News. 2009-11-14. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "'Something bad was going to happen'". Have Your Say. BBC News. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  6. ^ [[1]]
  7. ^ "Island acts in the news". isleofman.com. 2009-11-15. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Scores hurt at JLS lights switch-on". Google. Press Association. 2009-11-15. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  9. ^ a b Coleman, Andrew (2009-11-09). "The Saturdays, Natalie Imbruglia and Tinchy Stryder join line-up for Birmingham Christmas lights switch-on". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  10. ^ [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7772341.stm
  11. ^ [[2]]
  12. ^ a b c d e f Johnston, Ian (2009-11-14). "Sixty people hurt in crush to see JLS at Christmas lights event in Birmingham". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g "Fans hurt at X Factor group's gig". BBC News. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  14. ^ [[3]]
  15. ^ [[4]]
  16. ^ [[5]]
  17. ^ [[6]]
  18. ^ [[7]]
  19. ^ [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7772341.stm
  20. ^ [[8]]
  21. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2730682/64-hurt-in-JLS-crowd-crush.html]]
  22. ^ [[9]]
  23. ^ [[10]]
  24. ^ [[11]]
  25. ^ [[12]]
  26. ^ [[13]]
  27. ^ [[14]]
  28. ^ [[15]]
  29. ^ [[16]]
  30. ^ [[17]]
  31. ^ [[18]]
  32. ^ [[19]]
  33. ^ [[20]]
  34. ^ [[21]]
  35. ^ [[22]]
  36. ^ "News in brief". The Times. 2009-11-15. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  37. ^ [[23]]
  38. ^ [[24]]
  39. ^ [[25]]
  40. ^ [[26]]
  41. ^ [[27]]
  42. ^ [[28]]
  43. ^ [[29]]
  44. ^ [[30]]
  45. ^ [[31]]
  46. ^ [[32]]
  47. ^ [[33]]


[1]

  1. ^ [[]]
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