Читать книгу Disaster Response and Recovery - David A. McEntire - Страница 52

Stampedes and Crowd Crushes

Concerts may result in serious emergency situations. In 2013, a fire broke at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil, when a flare was lit on stage. More than 200 people died during the panicked evacuation. Another 150 were injured while leaving the burning nightclub. In 2021, more than 50,000 people attended the Astroworld festival in Houston where Travis Scott was performing. Nine individuals died and another 300 people were injured when the crowd compressed toward the stage. These events illustrate the dangers of panic flight, overcapacity, and the lack of signage and security personnel.

Other examples of panic flight have been witnessed during large religious gatherings. In 2005, 841 people were killed and another 323 were injured while attending a religious gathering at the Al Kadhimiya Mosque in Baghdad. Someone falsely reported the presence of a suicide bomber, and people began to evacuate the building and nearby area. Hundreds of people stampeded toward a bridge, which broke and fell into the Tigris River. A similar situation took place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 2006. 363 people were crushed and killed on the final day of the Hajj (pilgrimage). The incident began when some individuals accidentally tripped over their luggage. This created some fear in those nearby and caused them to scatter. Panic flight does not occur very often, but it can turn deadly as these cases suggest.