Organizers of the annual Love Parade that took place in Duisburg during 2010 were accused of discarding safety procedures concerning the capacity of the event. It is reported that between 200,000 and 1.4 million people were attending the event. 18-year-old festival-goer Isabel Schloesser told news outlet Reuters, “It was way too full in the afternoon, everybody between wanted to get in,” In an effort to prevent overcrowding, police, blocked off the entrance to the festival.
This resulted in a crush at the tunnel entrance from festival-goers trying to enter and leave the premises. 21 people reported dead and over 500 were injured at the epicenter of the crowd. At the scenes, people can be seen climbing up a wall to safety to escape the horror. In a statement from Angela Merkel “Young people came to the party. Instead, there was death and injury. I am aghast and saddened by the sorrow and the pain,” An investigation into the events was launched by German prosecutors. During a press conference on the 25th July 2010, event organizer 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”. Despite the tragedy, the festival continued that day.
Survivors blame the festival organizers for the disaster and witnesses at the scene warned police about overcrowding. Festival goers blame its organizers for having only one small entrance (QUOTE). Although it was known by the organizers that the grounds could only hold 500,000, the average attendance of past events was estimated to be over 1 million. However, In a video documentary released on YouTube released by the organizers on the 30th August 2010, the police are clearly indicated to blame for the blocking off all the entrances to the festival using police cordons. Eyewitness Jörg Sandmann aged 21 says to the Independent, “It was idiotic of the police to try to turn back a crowd of ravers who were hell-bent on getting into the festival,”