Stampede At German Festival Kills 19

Nineteen festival goers were killed and 342 injured after a crush at the Love Parade dance music festival in Duisburg, Germany.

Is it believed panic broke out when police closed the festival crowds due to overcrowding, resulting in a stampede. The dead and injured were thought to be stuck in a tunnel, the only entrance/exit into the grounds.

The BBC reports that some eyewitnesses had earlier warned festival organisers about the decision to have just one entrance to the site. “You cannot jail one million people behind fences, you need to let them walk around free, then such things do not happen,” one witness told reporters at the scene.

Following the disaster, the organiser said they would never bring back the festival, which originated in Berlin in 1989. "The Love Parade has always been a joyful and peaceful party, but in future would always be overshadowed by yesterday's events," Rainer Schaller said. "Out of respect for the victims, their families and friends, we are going to discontinue the event in the future, and that means the end of the Love Parade."

The festival, meant to celebrate love and peace, had been billed as the world’s largest techno party. DJs set to play at the festival included David Guetta and Tiesto.