November 7, 2019 • 36 mins
Festivals are one of the ways we can enjoy and have fun with thousands of others. But what if it turns deadly? Listen to Episode 21 and learn about the danger that crowds can bring.
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Follow us on Twitter @UntimelyPodcast
Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
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Follow us on Twitter @UntimelyPodcast
Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
This was a trip of a lifetime. Clancy and her friend planned this trip
for at least two years. Itwas a commitment they made to take the
time while they had it. Forthree months. The two friends will travel
to Europe to see the sites,meet new friends, enjoy the local festivals,
(00:32):
eat delicious food, and explore theunknown. Both meticulously planned every detail
of almost every day and saved upto make this trip happen. After years
of planning, it was almost timeto go. In July two thousand and
ten, Clancy resigned from her joband prepared for the month's long trip.
(00:58):
It was Wednesday, July twenty onewhen Clancy and her friend hopped aboard a
plane from Sydney, Australia on theirway to Germany. She waved goodbye to
her family, although she will missthem terribly. She looked forward to this
trip so much. But despite Clancy'splanning and saving in persistence, three days
(01:21):
after she boarded that plane, noone will hear from her ever again.
You are listening to Untimely, apodcast about untimely deaths and fatalities in recent
(01:45):
or earlier history the resulted in damagesin its wake. I'm your host,
Lynn festivals are so much fun togo to. There are so many different
types that there is one that youare bound to like. Food festivals,
music festivals, movie festivals, youname it, there is one somewhere that
(02:06):
will pop up. Maybe it's thegrand spectacle of it all that attracts attendees
like me to brave the crowds andsomehow forget all the small annoyances that could
happen before, during, or evenafter the festival. Or maybe it's a
pastime you can consider as pure entertainment, but behind the scenes, organizing a
(02:29):
festival is painstakingly detailed, oriented andrequires almost an entire army of organizers,
security, and locals to participate.In today's episode, we'll learn about what
was supposed to be a peaceful andfun afternoon of festival delights that turned into
(02:49):
a crushing nightmare for many. Whenyou say Matthew Ring loved music, it's
(03:13):
an understatement. Earlier in his careeras a disc jockey, Matthew also joined
music groups in Berlin, Germany suchas Dead Pilots, German Polish Aggression and
Squealer. To make his mark,Matthew changed his stage name to Doctor Moth
and from there his skills as adisc jockey in the world of German techno
(03:36):
house music, became a popular nameamong clubgoers. Doctor Moth met Danielle Dipicioto,
an American artist living in Berlin.Together they share their love of music
and its impact on social movements.At that time, the political climate in
Germany and in the rest of theworld was fairly unstable. Doctor Moth wanted
(04:00):
to show Germany and the rest ofthe world that peace is attainable to those
who will listen. With Danielle,the two co founded the Love Parade in
the summer of nineteen eighty nine.The idea behind the Love Parade was born
as a political demonstration through peaceful means. The slogan they chose was Peace,
(04:24):
Joy and Pancakes, where Peace wasmeant to represent disarmament, Joy was meant
to represent understanding among nations, andpancakes for fair food distribution. The first
ever Love Parade was attended by onehundred and fifty people, led by Doctor
Moth and Danielle, who danced andmarched their way along ker First and one
(04:48):
of the main streets in Berlin.Attendees were free to express themselves either by
dance, by song by fashion,a vokes wagon bus with loud speakers blasted
techno music for the parade, whiletwo other vehicles strode along the parade goers,
with hundreds of onlookers enjoying the spectacle. In the years that followed,
(05:15):
the simple idea of Love Parade asa peaceful demonstration exploded both nationally and internationally,
reaching far and wide. Similar parades, which became a festival, started
to pop up in other European citiessuch as Paris and France, and touring
in Italy as well as the Americasin Santiago, Chile and Acapulco in Mexico.
(05:40):
Soon enough, corporate sponsors came knockingunder the door of the organizers.
What started out as a political demonstrationbecame a marketing opportunity. It was great
to have sponsors to fund the eventthat was now getting bigger every year.
Despite the increasing support from fans andsponsors, the Love Parade has had its
(06:03):
challenges. Germany law dictates that thegovernment is responsible for setting up security and
clean up before, during, andafter political demonstrations, but as the Love
Parade became a large group gathering awayfrom political reasons, a German court found
(06:26):
that the Love Parade is a commercialevent rather than its original purpose, removing
the state as a responsible party forsecurity and clean up. With the commercialization
and negativity that suddenly loomed over theLove Parade, doctor Moth and Danielle broke
ties with the event and its organizers. In two thousand and four and two
(06:49):
thousand and five, the Love Paradewas canceled due to funding issues. The
next year, the event was backup in two thousand and seven, it
almost did not happen because of lackof permits, as the Senate in Berlin
refused to issue one for the event. The city of Berlin sided overcrowding and
(07:10):
mismanagement of waste as reasons among others, to deny a permit to the Love
Parade organizers. Even with a bigcity like Berlin, the number of attendees
became a bit too much to handle, So with that the festival organizers looked
to the west towards the Rur district. After reaching out to several cities in
(07:34):
ruar Essen hosted the event in twothousand and seven. It was estimated that
around one point two million people attended. The next year, two thousand and
eight, the festival was held inDortmund, which was about a forty minute
ride east from Essen, but onceagain the event was canceled in two thousand
(07:58):
and nine. This time it wassecurity and safety issues that held it back.
The once peaceful parade turned into asecurity nightmare. There were reports of
theft, sexual assaults, and proficientdrug use. At least twenty people were
arrested. Even with all that historyand issues that followed the Love Parade,
(08:24):
organizers set on to prepare for theevent in two thousand and ten. This
time the city of Duisburg was chosento host. Duisburg is the fifteenth largest
city in Germany, with about halfa million people calling it home. The
city was first established in the thirteenthcentury. In nineteen eighty three, the
(08:50):
town celebrated its one thousand, onehundredth anniversary. So much history has passed
through this town. Because of itslocation, was heavily bombed by the Allies
in World War Two, which changedthe city's landscape and industries. Like other
German cities, Dusburg boasts of historicchurches like the Saint John the Baptist built
(09:13):
in nine hundred and in the samevicinity are modern buildings of recent design and
construction. A festival of this magnitudewas welcomed in Duisburg, but needed detailed
organizing and systematic plans. The mayorof Duisburg at that time, Adolf Saurland,
(09:35):
ensure the event will be a successas it will bring in much needed
revenue for the city. The themeof the two and ten Love Parade was
the art of Love, brought tolife by DJ and producer Anthony Rother.
There will be sixteen parade wagons ormusic floats that will blast beats in bases
(10:00):
starting at two pm, to beattended by an estimated one point four million
people. One of the floats plannedhad a giant yellow inflatable robot holding a
red heart over the crowd. Theevent itself is free of charge. Local
and globally renowned DJs were lined upto bring music to its fans. Big
(10:24):
names like David Ghetta, Djtsto andMonica Cruz were just some of the artists
scheduled to take part in the festivities. At the end of the festival,
attendees will gather near the Love Stage, the first of its kind from other
love parades in the past, itwas gearing up to be one hell of
(10:46):
a party, but for those whowere not lucky enough to attend, the
festival will be live streamed over theInternet and available over select radio stations.
To describe the plant events, letme share an overview of the area where
the festival took place. We'll lookat the venue from an aerial point of
(11:09):
view. Audubon A five nine ison the left, going vertically, while
on the other side to the farright is the railway track. In the
middle is alter guterurban Hoff, afreight station that will act as the structure
where the music floats or trucks willgo around. Connecting the Audubon and the
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railway tracks is an underground tunnel,the karl Lerstrass. This tunnel is about
six hundred meters or six hundred fiftysix yards from the entrance on the west
side underneath the Audubon to the entrancein the east side by the tracks.
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Intersecting the tunnel are two inclined rampsthat go up to the Frame eight station
ground level. The main entrance ramp, much wider than the other, was
parallel and closer to the railroad stationpreviously used by vehicles to transport goods and
items to the freight station building atthe end of the main ramp. On
(12:16):
each side leading to the freight stationare two grass slopes guarded by a wire
fence. At the bottom of theleft wall of the main entry ramp was
a concrete staircase that people can useto get up to the level of the
freight station from the tunnel. Rightbefore the stairs is a marketing billboard with
a steel pole that can be seenby vehicles on the Audubon. There is
(12:41):
a secondary ramp to the left ofthe main ramp that also intersects the Carlos
Tross. This one is narrower andcurves like an elongated letters. There is
no pedestrian access in this secondary ramp, unlike the staircase in the main entry.
The organizers had this vision. Attendeescan access the festival using two entrances,
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one on the west and one onthe east end of the Carless Dross.
Once inside the tunnel, it isa short walk to the main entry
ramp, where they head up theincline until they reach the freight station level,
then follow along the music floats aroundthe building to exit. Attendees will
use the secondary ramp back to theCarless Dross tunnel, where they can go
(13:31):
either to the west or the eastside of the tunnel to leave local law
enforcement. About four thousand strong werestrategically located at almost every point of the
venue, in the two entrances,along the main ramp and secondary ramp,
and all around the festival points ofentries and exits. This timeline of the
(13:56):
event was based on the organizers supportvideo footage from the tunnels and surrounding areas.
It was July twenty fourth, aSaturday. The weather forecast seemed perfect
for a festival, perfect for theLove Parade. By the time the festival
(14:16):
will be in full swing, thetemperature would be twenty four degrees celsius or
around seventy five degrees fahrenheit. Itwas nothing but blue skies. Early in
the morning, local authorities received informationthat the event was a green light.
The plan was to open the entrancesat eleven o'clock in the morning local time,
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but as it got closer to theopening time, it was clear that
some construction was yet to be completedthe organizers needed more time. It was
then decided to delay the opening ofthe gates to one hour later, but
by then large crowds were already startingto gather outside the two entrances. At
(15:03):
two minutes after twelve, over anhour past schedule, the festival was finally
opened to the public. The crowdslowly filtered in from both sides of the
tunnel. At around two pm,the festival officially started, just like it
was planned. Music floats circled thefreight station, blasting techno music to the
(15:26):
crowd. However, at least twentythousand techno fans were still filtering in from
both entrances. Local law enforcement feltthat an announcement to the fans was warranted.
They asked the organizers to make asimple notification to the fans to avoid
overcrowding and to have a little patiencewhile the police managed the entrances and exits.
(15:52):
Unfortunately, there were no available loudspeakersor other methods to make the announcement.
At around three fifty in the afternoon, police formed a security block on
the west entrance to inhibit new attendeesfrom walking in. The purpose of this
blockade is to slow down the numberof attendees to a manageable level and to
(16:15):
not overcrowd the festival grounds. Aboveminutes later, another police blockade was formed,
this time at the east entrance ofthe tunnel. With the West and
east entrances closed off, the numberof attendees trying to get in increased in
volume exponentially. Meanwhile, music stillblasted from inside the festival. Frustrated attendees
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became extremely agitated, wondering what thehold up was. The west entrance was
starting to block the outer streets,so the police blockade was moved closer inside
the tunnel, just before the secondaryramp. As a reminder, the secondary
ramp was supposed to be used asthe main exit. At this point,
(17:08):
the volume of people coming to thefestival did not allow anyone to exit.
There was just no way out.A third police barricade was formed, and
this time it was placed inside themain entry ramp, just after the concrete
staircase. The third barricade was createdto prevent anyone who managed to slip away
(17:32):
from the two entrance blockades. Butbecause of this third barricade, any attendees
who wanted to leave could not gothrough the main ramp, nor can they
go out the secondary ramp. Allthe police can say to them was to
wait. By four or fifteen inthe afternoon, the police barricade in the
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east side opened up and allowed attendeesto filter to the main entry ramp,
but the third barricade prevented them toenter, so they were stuck. As
you could imagine, attendees from theupper part of the main ramp who wanted
to leave were now facing the attendeesfrom the east entrance trying to get in.
(18:15):
Meanwhile, some of the crowd startedto climb up the concrete staircase just
to get to the festival, butthere was security posted and only allowed two
or three people at a time toget in. In desperation, some of
the able bodied attendees climbed up thepoles of the billboard and the light fixtures
(18:38):
to get to the freight station level. The polls started to wobble from the
weight of people trying to leave themain ramp. By four twenty one,
the police barricade in the west wascompletely overwhelmed by the public who just wanted
to get into the festival. Therewas a small fight between the police and
(19:02):
the attendees, but in the endhundreds of people from the west entrance hurried
their way to the main entry ramp, where they were met with hundreds more.
Everyone was blocked. Around four thirtyone, an emergency vehicle was allowed
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through the west entrance. The smallbreak in the crowd was immediately filled with
festival goers, making it impossible tocontrol. The atmosphere was tense and many
started to get anxious. Every singleperson in the crowd had been waiting for
a long time to get in.It was a chaotic scene, people trying
(19:45):
to leave and people trying to getin, everyone pushing and pulling against one
another in a mass of humanity withvery little space in between. The pressure
from all sides was crushing the oneswho were right inside the lower part of
the main entry ramp. Approximately fiveminutes later, the third police barricade was
(20:11):
overtaken by the sheer volume and pressureof people trying to get in and out.
Then, at four or forty inthe afternoon, panic like movements within
the crowd ensued and suddenly grew outof control. Screams of help echoed through
the tunnel and swarms of people startedto climb up the concrete stairs, the
(20:36):
billboard, the light poles, anythingthey can to just get out of the
crowd. People were heard shouting tohurry up and get moving, while some
yelling back to calm down. Veryfaintly, you can hear a whimper of
someone yelling, I am about todie. More and more people started to
(21:00):
climb up on top of others,elbowing necks and heads as they fight to
get up and make their way tothe staircase. Some people were seen being
carried away by the crowd against theirmight because of the force of pushing and
pulling. Cries of pain and panicpierced the air. In several crowd pockets.
(21:25):
One or two people fell down onthe ground and were unable to get
back up. Instead, they werepushed further down to the ground, their
entire body used as leverage by othersto move forward. A few actually looked
down and held up those who havefallen. Police tried in vain to control
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the crowd, but it was alltoo much and there was nothing they could
do to stop anyone. To makeit worse, the screams for help and
terror were met asked by the loudmusic from the floats. Some did try
to pull up those who were pusheddown, while people were struggling to breathe
(22:10):
and survive. Others inside the CarlosTruss Tunnel and above the festival grounds were
dancing and moving to the music.By five oh five, those who started
to climb the concrete staircase fell downon top of the crowd below. Police
and bystanders started to reach out andhelp those who were able to climb up
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the poles and the billboard. Themetal fences were completely demolished on the grassy
slopes at the end of the mainentryway, and what seemed like forever,
ever so slowly, the crowds startedto dissipate. Many were able to find
their way up the festival grounds,either by rushing the main ramp or climbing
(22:56):
any vertical structure they can. Byfive fifteen, the volume of people decreased
within the main ramp area, butscattered around left were some who were injured
in the sudden crowd rush, whileothers were doing their best to save ones
who were severely trampled on the ground. By five twenty, the crowd was
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almost gone. Fire engines and emergencycrews started moving they injured outside the grounds
to be seen by medical professionals,while others sadly did not make it out
alive. When the panic subsided andthe crowd dispersed, twenty one Love Parade
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attendees died that afternoon, while overfive hundred people sustained traumatic injuries. Fifteen
died on the grounds where the crowdhad rushed, while six succumbed to their
deaths in the hospital. Fourteen ofthose who died were from Germany, two
(24:03):
from Spain, one from the Netherlands, one from Italy, one from Bosnia
Herzegovina, one from China, andfinally one from Australia. It was Clancy
Ridley by six in the evening,the Love Parade Festival's attendees continued to party
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despite the gruesome deaths that occurred onthe same grounds. It was decided by
the organizers that evacuating the premises wouldmake matters worse, so the show,
as they say, went on likenothing happened. It wasn't until the next
day that many realized what had justhappened. Reports from the media stated the
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main cause of deaths were from fallingdown the concrete stairs to the ground,
but autopsies will later proved that thosewho died suffered tremendously from being crushed to
their deaths. Their lungs were slowlyand agonizingly compressed due to the number of
people around them. The lack ofoxygen caused extreme distress, which led to
(25:17):
suffocation then eventually painful death. Theday after the disaster, the organizers made
a somber decision, which they announcedin a press conference in light of the
deaths from the event, there willnever be another Love Parade ever again.
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Rayner Shaler, one of the mainorganizers, stated, the Love Parade has
always been a joyful and peaceful party, but in the future would always be
overshadowed by yesterday's event. Shaller andother organizers never shied away from what happened.
He met with families of the victimsand survivors. He offered emergency counseling
(26:03):
services to those who needed it.On July thirty first, a memorial service
was held at Salvatore Church in Duisburg. The service was attended by German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and led by the headof the German Protestant Church, Nicholas Schneider.
Over five hundred mourners came to grievewhile the service was televised for others
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to watch. With a publicized disastersuch as this, the question becomes who
will be held accountable? Will itbe the organizers for their lack of planning
for the number of attendees. Willit be the police who did not manage
crowd control or have easily accessible exits. Would it be the city administrators of
(26:52):
Duisburg for lackluster oversight of the event? Or will it be the attendees themselves
to blame for failing to realize whatwas happening and continued to push and pull
and panic until the entire thing becameout of control. Were many of the
festival goers influenced by illicit drugs andalcohol, similar to love parades of the
(27:15):
past. Unfortunately, there was notone thing that made this event into a
tragedy, but rather a series ofunfortunate but preventable errors. The organizers compiled
witnessed statements and closed circuit recordings fromcameras in and around the area to show
(27:36):
the timeline of what happened. Theclosure of both entrances and the main ramp
area initiated the accumulation of bodies thatmade the crowd grow larger and became uncontrollable.
The police blocked the two entrances tofilter the crowd number to a manageable
size, but instead created mass confusionThe lack of communication and method of communications
(28:03):
were also to blame. There wereno radios available for the police to inform
the event organizers of what was goingon. As proof, there was an
interview with one of the organizers heldat around four forty seven on July twenty
fourth, around the same time thecrowd was in full eruption. In the
(28:23):
interview, it was stated that theLove Parade was a success. At the
beginning of the chaos, it wouldhave been helpful to have a public announcement
to calm the attendees trying to enteran exit, as well as being able
to direct traffic, but there wasno public cloudspeaker that can be used.
(28:45):
Despite the sixteen music floats moving aboutthe festival grounds. Of course, with
attendees not knowing what was going on, and with the anxiety and aggravation felt
by many, a fine amenon calledcrowd turbulence or crowd quake happened. The
phrase was coined by Dirt Helping andPratique Mookerjee, who wrote an analysis of
(29:11):
the Love Parade disaster into A thousandand twelve. In their research, although
the news and most of the eyewitnessaccounts focused on the area by the concrete
staircase. The deaths did not happenthere, it was in smaller pockets around
it. Basically, because of thedensity of people in one small area,
(29:33):
any force from any direction can multiplythrough bodily contact and created pressure. This
pressure, if relieved by any sortof movement, will break and cause people
to fall down and create a dominoeffect in smaller pockets, crushing people to
death. The analysis was not clearon who or which agency was to be
(29:55):
blamed for this disaster. Quoting theanalysis said, the systemic nature of many
crowd disasters makes their legal handling verydifficult, since it is hard to determine
the fraction of responsibility that different peopleand institutions had. In twenty sixteen,
(30:15):
the first criminal investigation was led bythe State of Dusseldorf and the German police.
Over three thousand, five hundred peoplegave their testimonies and the case file
was over forty thousand pages. Theresult of the investigation brought charges against ten
of the organizers and city planners ofthe law parade, including Rayner Shaler and
(30:40):
city Mayor Adolph Sauerland. A groupof protesters demanded the mayor's resignation for allowing
the festival to happen in the firstplace. The Sauerland rejected the thought of
resignation as he was not directly involvedin the events of that afternoon. He
was eventually voted out by the stateparliament. When the charges was brought to
(31:03):
the state court, it was rejecteddue to the lack of sufficient evidence,
but in April twenty seventeen, ahigher regional court reviewed the case and moved
forward with the charges against the tenindividuals. The trial started in December of
the same year. However, despitefourteen months of court proceedings, it was
(31:26):
clear that the state prosecutors failed toestablish individual guilt. With that the charges
for seven of the defendants were dropped. The seven included former mayor Adolph Sauerland
an event organizer Rayner Shaler. Thethree remaining were offered to pay a fine
of ten thousand euros, which isroughly eleven thousand US dollars, but the
(31:51):
three remained steadfast and chose to gothrough trial to clear their names. To
this day, there has been noconclusion from the court proceedings and there are
still over five hundred testimonies to beheard. Many of the victims families were
outraged and wanted to fight to holdthe organizers responsible for their losses, but
(32:14):
unfortunately time is against them. ForGerman law, the statute of limitations for
this case is ten years, meaningthe court only has until July two and
twenty to continue and find a resolution. Doctor Moth, founder of the Love
Parade, was sad in to hearabout this tragedy. In an interview with
(32:38):
Reuters days after the event of Julytwenty fourth, he stated that the organizers
are guilty since they did not giveenough space for the festival to occur safely.
The state of North Rhine West Failure, where the city of Duisburg is
located, compensated each of the victims'families with thousand euros to cover the costs
(33:01):
of funeral expenses and hospital related bills. The Love Parades insurer also paid amounts
to the families for subsequent expenses.The festival grounds of what was the two
thousands and Love Parade remains as is. On every anniversary of the disaster,
(33:22):
families and friends of those who diedand those who survived visit the area to
mourn and remember. A few visitduring holidays or birthdays. At one point
there was a question and what shouldhappen to the grounds. There was a
time that the area, specifically thefreight station, was going to be developed
(33:43):
into a commercial outlet mall in shops. Obviously, this plan was met with
passionate opposition, especially from families andthe community of Duisburg. It remains a
freight station to this day. Twosongs were composed and released in honor of
the Love Parade disaster, one entitledRemember Love, with the song's profits sent
(34:07):
directly to the victims' families, andanother twenty one Crosses, where the names
of the victims were mentioned at theend of the song. Near the concrete
stairs, a monument was designed bya local artist named Gerard Lassman. The
money for the memorial was raised bythe public over twenty six thousand euros to
(34:30):
build the structure. Seisen Kropp donatedsteel to the monument. Four weeks before
the first anniversary of the disaster.The monument, a steel sculpture over three
point five meters tall and six meterslong, was presented to the public and
dedicated to those who died. Thedate of July twenty four, two thousand
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and ten, shown on one sideand twenty one steel beams on the other.
The concrete staircase itself also became amakeshift memorial. Twenty one crosses lined
up the stairs with names of thevictims etched in each one. Candles,
flowers, and other items of importancelike scarves and bracelets are neatly displayed near
(35:17):
and around the area to remind thosewho visit of what happened there in two
thousand and ten. To the leftof the staircase, written in seven languages,
the native tongues of the twenty onevictims are the words love never ends.
(35:52):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Untimely. As always, it
would be great to hear what youthought of this episode. Send us a
note at Untimely podcast at gmail dotcom. If you like this episode,
don't forget to spread the word toyour friends, colleagues, neighbors, and
family members. Also, if youhave a few minutes, please rate and
(36:14):
review the podcast on your favorite podcastplatform, and if you're on social media,
connect with us on Twitter at UntimelyPodcast. We'd love to hear from you.
This was a trip of a lifetime. Clancy and her friend planned this trip
for at least two years. Itwas a commitment they made to take the
time while they had it. Forthree months. The two friends will travel
to Europe to see the sites,meet new friends, enjoy the local festivals,
(00:32):
eat delicious food, and explore theunknown. Both meticulously planned every detail
of almost every day and saved upto make this trip happen. After years
of planning, it was almost timeto go. In July two thousand and
ten, Clancy resigned from her joband prepared for the month's long trip.
(00:58):
It was Wednesday, July twenty onewhen Clancy and her friend hopped aboard a
plane from Sydney, Australia on theirway to Germany. She waved goodbye to
her family, although she will missthem terribly. She looked forward to this
trip so much. But despite Clancy'splanning and saving in persistence, three days
(01:21):
after she boarded that plane, noone will hear from her ever again.
You are listening to Untimely, apodcast about untimely deaths and fatalities in recent
(01:45):
or earlier history the resulted in damagesin its wake. I'm your host,
Lynn festivals are so much fun togo to. There are so many different
types that there is one that youare bound to like. Food festivals,
music festivals, movie festivals, youname it, there is one somewhere that
(02:06):
will pop up. Maybe it's thegrand spectacle of it all that attracts attendees
like me to brave the crowds andsomehow forget all the small annoyances that could
happen before, during, or evenafter the festival. Or maybe it's a
pastime you can consider as pure entertainment, but behind the scenes, organizing a
(02:29):
festival is painstakingly detailed, oriented andrequires almost an entire army of organizers,
security, and locals to participate.In today's episode, we'll learn about what
was supposed to be a peaceful andfun afternoon of festival delights that turned into
(02:49):
a crushing nightmare for many. Whenyou say Matthew Ring loved music, it's
(03:13):
an understatement. Earlier in his careeras a disc jockey, Matthew also joined
music groups in Berlin, Germany suchas Dead Pilots, German Polish Aggression and
Squealer. To make his mark,Matthew changed his stage name to Doctor Moth
and from there his skills as adisc jockey in the world of German techno
(03:36):
house music, became a popular nameamong clubgoers. Doctor Moth met Danielle Dipicioto,
an American artist living in Berlin.Together they share their love of music
and its impact on social movements.At that time, the political climate in
Germany and in the rest of theworld was fairly unstable. Doctor Moth wanted
(04:00):
to show Germany and the rest ofthe world that peace is attainable to those
who will listen. With Danielle,the two co founded the Love Parade in
the summer of nineteen eighty nine.The idea behind the Love Parade was born
as a political demonstration through peaceful means. The slogan they chose was Peace,
(04:24):
Joy and Pancakes, where Peace wasmeant to represent disarmament, Joy was meant
to represent understanding among nations, andpancakes for fair food distribution. The first
ever Love Parade was attended by onehundred and fifty people, led by Doctor
Moth and Danielle, who danced andmarched their way along ker First and one
(04:48):
of the main streets in Berlin.Attendees were free to express themselves either by
dance, by song by fashion,a vokes wagon bus with loud speakers blasted
techno music for the parade, whiletwo other vehicles strode along the parade goers,
with hundreds of onlookers enjoying the spectacle. In the years that followed,
(05:15):
the simple idea of Love Parade asa peaceful demonstration exploded both nationally and internationally,
reaching far and wide. Similar parades, which became a festival, started
to pop up in other European citiessuch as Paris and France, and touring
in Italy as well as the Americasin Santiago, Chile and Acapulco in Mexico.
(05:40):
Soon enough, corporate sponsors came knockingunder the door of the organizers.
What started out as a political demonstrationbecame a marketing opportunity. It was great
to have sponsors to fund the eventthat was now getting bigger every year.
Despite the increasing support from fans andsponsors, the Love Parade has had its
(06:03):
challenges. Germany law dictates that thegovernment is responsible for setting up security and
clean up before, during, andafter political demonstrations, but as the Love
Parade became a large group gathering awayfrom political reasons, a German court found
(06:26):
that the Love Parade is a commercialevent rather than its original purpose, removing
the state as a responsible party forsecurity and clean up. With the commercialization
and negativity that suddenly loomed over theLove Parade, doctor Moth and Danielle broke
ties with the event and its organizers. In two thousand and four and two
(06:49):
thousand and five, the Love Paradewas canceled due to funding issues. The
next year, the event was backup in two thousand and seven, it
almost did not happen because of lackof permits, as the Senate in Berlin
refused to issue one for the event. The city of Berlin sided overcrowding and
(07:10):
mismanagement of waste as reasons among others, to deny a permit to the Love
Parade organizers. Even with a bigcity like Berlin, the number of attendees
became a bit too much to handle, So with that the festival organizers looked
to the west towards the Rur district. After reaching out to several cities in
(07:34):
ruar Essen hosted the event in twothousand and seven. It was estimated that
around one point two million people attended. The next year, two thousand and
eight, the festival was held inDortmund, which was about a forty minute
ride east from Essen, but onceagain the event was canceled in two thousand
(07:58):
and nine. This time it wassecurity and safety issues that held it back.
The once peaceful parade turned into asecurity nightmare. There were reports of
theft, sexual assaults, and proficientdrug use. At least twenty people were
arrested. Even with all that historyand issues that followed the Love Parade,
(08:24):
organizers set on to prepare for theevent in two thousand and ten. This
time the city of Duisburg was chosento host. Duisburg is the fifteenth largest
city in Germany, with about halfa million people calling it home. The
city was first established in the thirteenthcentury. In nineteen eighty three, the
(08:50):
town celebrated its one thousand, onehundredth anniversary. So much history has passed
through this town. Because of itslocation, was heavily bombed by the Allies
in World War Two, which changedthe city's landscape and industries. Like other
German cities, Dusburg boasts of historicchurches like the Saint John the Baptist built
(09:13):
in nine hundred and in the samevicinity are modern buildings of recent design and
construction. A festival of this magnitudewas welcomed in Duisburg, but needed detailed
organizing and systematic plans. The mayorof Duisburg at that time, Adolf Saurland,
(09:35):
ensure the event will be a successas it will bring in much needed
revenue for the city. The themeof the two and ten Love Parade was
the art of Love, brought tolife by DJ and producer Anthony Rother.
There will be sixteen parade wagons ormusic floats that will blast beats in bases
(10:00):
starting at two pm, to beattended by an estimated one point four million
people. One of the floats plannedhad a giant yellow inflatable robot holding a
red heart over the crowd. Theevent itself is free of charge. Local
and globally renowned DJs were lined upto bring music to its fans. Big
(10:24):
names like David Ghetta, Djtsto andMonica Cruz were just some of the artists
scheduled to take part in the festivities. At the end of the festival,
attendees will gather near the Love Stage, the first of its kind from other
love parades in the past, itwas gearing up to be one hell of
(10:46):
a party, but for those whowere not lucky enough to attend, the
festival will be live streamed over theInternet and available over select radio stations.
To describe the plant events, letme share an overview of the area where
the festival took place. We'll lookat the venue from an aerial point of
(11:09):
view. Audubon A five nine ison the left, going vertically, while
on the other side to the farright is the railway track. In the
middle is alter guterurban Hoff, afreight station that will act as the structure
where the music floats or trucks willgo around. Connecting the Audubon and the
(11:33):
railway tracks is an underground tunnel,the karl Lerstrass. This tunnel is about
six hundred meters or six hundred fiftysix yards from the entrance on the west
side underneath the Audubon to the entrancein the east side by the tracks.
(11:54):
Intersecting the tunnel are two inclined rampsthat go up to the Frame eight station
ground level. The main entrance ramp, much wider than the other, was
parallel and closer to the railroad stationpreviously used by vehicles to transport goods and
items to the freight station building atthe end of the main ramp. On
(12:16):
each side leading to the freight stationare two grass slopes guarded by a wire
fence. At the bottom of theleft wall of the main entry ramp was
a concrete staircase that people can useto get up to the level of the
freight station from the tunnel. Rightbefore the stairs is a marketing billboard with
a steel pole that can be seenby vehicles on the Audubon. There is
(12:41):
a secondary ramp to the left ofthe main ramp that also intersects the Carlos
Tross. This one is narrower andcurves like an elongated letters. There is
no pedestrian access in this secondary ramp, unlike the staircase in the main entry.
The organizers had this vision. Attendeescan access the festival using two entrances,
(13:07):
one on the west and one onthe east end of the Carless Dross.
Once inside the tunnel, it isa short walk to the main entry
ramp, where they head up theincline until they reach the freight station level,
then follow along the music floats aroundthe building to exit. Attendees will
use the secondary ramp back to theCarless Dross tunnel, where they can go
(13:31):
either to the west or the eastside of the tunnel to leave local law
enforcement. About four thousand strong werestrategically located at almost every point of the
venue, in the two entrances,along the main ramp and secondary ramp,
and all around the festival points ofentries and exits. This timeline of the
(13:56):
event was based on the organizers supportvideo footage from the tunnels and surrounding areas.
It was July twenty fourth, aSaturday. The weather forecast seemed perfect
for a festival, perfect for theLove Parade. By the time the festival
(14:16):
will be in full swing, thetemperature would be twenty four degrees celsius or
around seventy five degrees fahrenheit. Itwas nothing but blue skies. Early in
the morning, local authorities received informationthat the event was a green light.
The plan was to open the entrancesat eleven o'clock in the morning local time,
(14:39):
but as it got closer to theopening time, it was clear that
some construction was yet to be completedthe organizers needed more time. It was
then decided to delay the opening ofthe gates to one hour later, but
by then large crowds were already startingto gather outside the two entrances. At
(15:03):
two minutes after twelve, over anhour past schedule, the festival was finally
opened to the public. The crowdslowly filtered in from both sides of the
tunnel. At around two pm,the festival officially started, just like it
was planned. Music floats circled thefreight station, blasting techno music to the
(15:26):
crowd. However, at least twentythousand techno fans were still filtering in from
both entrances. Local law enforcement feltthat an announcement to the fans was warranted.
They asked the organizers to make asimple notification to the fans to avoid
overcrowding and to have a little patiencewhile the police managed the entrances and exits.
(15:52):
Unfortunately, there were no available loudspeakersor other methods to make the announcement.
At around three fifty in the afternoon, police formed a security block on
the west entrance to inhibit new attendeesfrom walking in. The purpose of this
blockade is to slow down the numberof attendees to a manageable level and to
(16:15):
not overcrowd the festival grounds. Aboveminutes later, another police blockade was formed,
this time at the east entrance ofthe tunnel. With the West and
east entrances closed off, the numberof attendees trying to get in increased in
volume exponentially. Meanwhile, music stillblasted from inside the festival. Frustrated attendees
(16:45):
became extremely agitated, wondering what thehold up was. The west entrance was
starting to block the outer streets,so the police blockade was moved closer inside
the tunnel, just before the secondaryramp. As a reminder, the secondary
ramp was supposed to be used asthe main exit. At this point,
(17:08):
the volume of people coming to thefestival did not allow anyone to exit.
There was just no way out.A third police barricade was formed, and
this time it was placed inside themain entry ramp, just after the concrete
staircase. The third barricade was createdto prevent anyone who managed to slip away
(17:32):
from the two entrance blockades. Butbecause of this third barricade, any attendees
who wanted to leave could not gothrough the main ramp, nor can they
go out the secondary ramp. Allthe police can say to them was to
wait. By four or fifteen inthe afternoon, the police barricade in the
(17:53):
east side opened up and allowed attendeesto filter to the main entry ramp,
but the third barricade prevented them toenter, so they were stuck. As
you could imagine, attendees from theupper part of the main ramp who wanted
to leave were now facing the attendeesfrom the east entrance trying to get in.
(18:15):
Meanwhile, some of the crowd startedto climb up the concrete staircase just
to get to the festival, butthere was security posted and only allowed two
or three people at a time toget in. In desperation, some of
the able bodied attendees climbed up thepoles of the billboard and the light fixtures
(18:38):
to get to the freight station level. The polls started to wobble from the
weight of people trying to leave themain ramp. By four twenty one,
the police barricade in the west wascompletely overwhelmed by the public who just wanted
to get into the festival. Therewas a small fight between the police and
(19:02):
the attendees, but in the endhundreds of people from the west entrance hurried
their way to the main entry ramp, where they were met with hundreds more.
Everyone was blocked. Around four thirtyone, an emergency vehicle was allowed
(19:23):
through the west entrance. The smallbreak in the crowd was immediately filled with
festival goers, making it impossible tocontrol. The atmosphere was tense and many
started to get anxious. Every singleperson in the crowd had been waiting for
a long time to get in.It was a chaotic scene, people trying
(19:45):
to leave and people trying to getin, everyone pushing and pulling against one
another in a mass of humanity withvery little space in between. The pressure
from all sides was crushing the oneswho were right inside the lower part of
the main entry ramp. Approximately fiveminutes later, the third police barricade was
(20:11):
overtaken by the sheer volume and pressureof people trying to get in and out.
Then, at four or forty inthe afternoon, panic like movements within
the crowd ensued and suddenly grew outof control. Screams of help echoed through
the tunnel and swarms of people startedto climb up the concrete stairs, the
(20:36):
billboard, the light poles, anythingthey can to just get out of the
crowd. People were heard shouting tohurry up and get moving, while some
yelling back to calm down. Veryfaintly, you can hear a whimper of
someone yelling, I am about todie. More and more people started to
(21:00):
climb up on top of others,elbowing necks and heads as they fight to
get up and make their way tothe staircase. Some people were seen being
carried away by the crowd against theirmight because of the force of pushing and
pulling. Cries of pain and panicpierced the air. In several crowd pockets.
(21:25):
One or two people fell down onthe ground and were unable to get
back up. Instead, they werepushed further down to the ground, their
entire body used as leverage by othersto move forward. A few actually looked
down and held up those who havefallen. Police tried in vain to control
(21:48):
the crowd, but it was alltoo much and there was nothing they could
do to stop anyone. To makeit worse, the screams for help and
terror were met asked by the loudmusic from the floats. Some did try
to pull up those who were pusheddown, while people were struggling to breathe
(22:10):
and survive. Others inside the CarlosTruss Tunnel and above the festival grounds were
dancing and moving to the music.By five oh five, those who started
to climb the concrete staircase fell downon top of the crowd below. Police
and bystanders started to reach out andhelp those who were able to climb up
(22:33):
the poles and the billboard. Themetal fences were completely demolished on the grassy
slopes at the end of the mainentryway, and what seemed like forever,
ever so slowly, the crowds startedto dissipate. Many were able to find
their way up the festival grounds,either by rushing the main ramp or climbing
(22:56):
any vertical structure they can. Byfive fifteen, the volume of people decreased
within the main ramp area, butscattered around left were some who were injured
in the sudden crowd rush, whileothers were doing their best to save ones
who were severely trampled on the ground. By five twenty, the crowd was
(23:22):
almost gone. Fire engines and emergencycrews started moving they injured outside the grounds
to be seen by medical professionals,while others sadly did not make it out
alive. When the panic subsided andthe crowd dispersed, twenty one Love Parade
(23:42):
attendees died that afternoon, while overfive hundred people sustained traumatic injuries. Fifteen
died on the grounds where the crowdhad rushed, while six succumbed to their
deaths in the hospital. Fourteen ofthose who died were from Germany, two
(24:03):
from Spain, one from the Netherlands, one from Italy, one from Bosnia
Herzegovina, one from China, andfinally one from Australia. It was Clancy
Ridley by six in the evening,the Love Parade Festival's attendees continued to party
(24:26):
despite the gruesome deaths that occurred onthe same grounds. It was decided by
the organizers that evacuating the premises wouldmake matters worse, so the show,
as they say, went on likenothing happened. It wasn't until the next
day that many realized what had justhappened. Reports from the media stated the
(24:52):
main cause of deaths were from fallingdown the concrete stairs to the ground,
but autopsies will later proved that thosewho died suffered tremendously from being crushed to
their deaths. Their lungs were slowlyand agonizingly compressed due to the number of
people around them. The lack ofoxygen caused extreme distress, which led to
(25:17):
suffocation then eventually painful death. Theday after the disaster, the organizers made
a somber decision, which they announcedin a press conference in light of the
deaths from the event, there willnever be another Love Parade ever again.
(25:38):
Rayner Shaler, one of the mainorganizers, stated, the Love Parade has
always been a joyful and peaceful party, but in the future would always be
overshadowed by yesterday's event. Shaller andother organizers never shied away from what happened.
He met with families of the victimsand survivors. He offered emergency counseling
(26:03):
services to those who needed it.On July thirty first, a memorial service
was held at Salvatore Church in Duisburg. The service was attended by German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and led by the headof the German Protestant Church, Nicholas Schneider.
Over five hundred mourners came to grievewhile the service was televised for others
(26:26):
to watch. With a publicized disastersuch as this, the question becomes who
will be held accountable? Will itbe the organizers for their lack of planning
for the number of attendees. Willit be the police who did not manage
crowd control or have easily accessible exits. Would it be the city administrators of
(26:52):
Duisburg for lackluster oversight of the event? Or will it be the attendees themselves
to blame for failing to realize whatwas happening and continued to push and pull
and panic until the entire thing becameout of control. Were many of the
festival goers influenced by illicit drugs andalcohol, similar to love parades of the
(27:15):
past. Unfortunately, there was notone thing that made this event into a
tragedy, but rather a series ofunfortunate but preventable errors. The organizers compiled
witnessed statements and closed circuit recordings fromcameras in and around the area to show
(27:36):
the timeline of what happened. Theclosure of both entrances and the main ramp
area initiated the accumulation of bodies thatmade the crowd grow larger and became uncontrollable.
The police blocked the two entrances tofilter the crowd number to a manageable
size, but instead created mass confusionThe lack of communication and method of communications
(28:03):
were also to blame. There wereno radios available for the police to inform
the event organizers of what was goingon. As proof, there was an
interview with one of the organizers heldat around four forty seven on July twenty
fourth, around the same time thecrowd was in full eruption. In the
(28:23):
interview, it was stated that theLove Parade was a success. At the
beginning of the chaos, it wouldhave been helpful to have a public announcement
to calm the attendees trying to enteran exit, as well as being able
to direct traffic, but there wasno public cloudspeaker that can be used.
(28:45):
Despite the sixteen music floats moving aboutthe festival grounds. Of course, with
attendees not knowing what was going on, and with the anxiety and aggravation felt
by many, a fine amenon calledcrowd turbulence or crowd quake happened. The
phrase was coined by Dirt Helping andPratique Mookerjee, who wrote an analysis of
(29:11):
the Love Parade disaster into A thousandand twelve. In their research, although
the news and most of the eyewitnessaccounts focused on the area by the concrete
staircase. The deaths did not happenthere, it was in smaller pockets around
it. Basically, because of thedensity of people in one small area,
(29:33):
any force from any direction can multiplythrough bodily contact and created pressure. This
pressure, if relieved by any sortof movement, will break and cause people
to fall down and create a dominoeffect in smaller pockets, crushing people to
death. The analysis was not clearon who or which agency was to be
(29:55):
blamed for this disaster. Quoting theanalysis said, the systemic nature of many
crowd disasters makes their legal handling verydifficult, since it is hard to determine
the fraction of responsibility that different peopleand institutions had. In twenty sixteen,
(30:15):
the first criminal investigation was led bythe State of Dusseldorf and the German police.
Over three thousand, five hundred peoplegave their testimonies and the case file
was over forty thousand pages. Theresult of the investigation brought charges against ten
of the organizers and city planners ofthe law parade, including Rayner Shaler and
(30:40):
city Mayor Adolph Sauerland. A groupof protesters demanded the mayor's resignation for allowing
the festival to happen in the firstplace. The Sauerland rejected the thought of
resignation as he was not directly involvedin the events of that afternoon. He
was eventually voted out by the stateparliament. When the charges was brought to
(31:03):
the state court, it was rejecteddue to the lack of sufficient evidence,
but in April twenty seventeen, ahigher regional court reviewed the case and moved
forward with the charges against the tenindividuals. The trial started in December of
the same year. However, despitefourteen months of court proceedings, it was
(31:26):
clear that the state prosecutors failed toestablish individual guilt. With that the charges
for seven of the defendants were dropped. The seven included former mayor Adolph Sauerland
an event organizer Rayner Shaler. Thethree remaining were offered to pay a fine
of ten thousand euros, which isroughly eleven thousand US dollars, but the
(31:51):
three remained steadfast and chose to gothrough trial to clear their names. To
this day, there has been noconclusion from the court proceedings and there are
still over five hundred testimonies to beheard. Many of the victims families were
outraged and wanted to fight to holdthe organizers responsible for their losses, but
(32:14):
unfortunately time is against them. ForGerman law, the statute of limitations for
this case is ten years, meaningthe court only has until July two and
twenty to continue and find a resolution. Doctor Moth, founder of the Love
Parade, was sad in to hearabout this tragedy. In an interview with
(32:38):
Reuters days after the event of Julytwenty fourth, he stated that the organizers
are guilty since they did not giveenough space for the festival to occur safely.
The state of North Rhine West Failure, where the city of Duisburg is
located, compensated each of the victims'families with thousand euros to cover the costs
(33:01):
of funeral expenses and hospital related bills. The Love Parades insurer also paid amounts
to the families for subsequent expenses.The festival grounds of what was the two
thousands and Love Parade remains as is. On every anniversary of the disaster,
(33:22):
families and friends of those who diedand those who survived visit the area to
mourn and remember. A few visitduring holidays or birthdays. At one point
there was a question and what shouldhappen to the grounds. There was a
time that the area, specifically thefreight station, was going to be developed
(33:43):
into a commercial outlet mall in shops. Obviously, this plan was met with
passionate opposition, especially from families andthe community of Duisburg. It remains a
freight station to this day. Twosongs were composed and released in honor of
the Love Parade disaster, one entitledRemember Love, with the song's profits sent
(34:07):
directly to the victims' families, andanother twenty one Crosses, where the names
of the victims were mentioned at theend of the song. Near the concrete
stairs, a monument was designed bya local artist named Gerard Lassman. The
money for the memorial was raised bythe public over twenty six thousand euros to
(34:30):
build the structure. Seisen Kropp donatedsteel to the monument. Four weeks before
the first anniversary of the disaster.The monument, a steel sculpture over three
point five meters tall and six meterslong, was presented to the public and
dedicated to those who died. Thedate of July twenty four, two thousand
(34:52):
and ten, shown on one sideand twenty one steel beams on the other.
The concrete staircase itself also became amakeshift memorial. Twenty one crosses lined
up the stairs with names of thevictims etched in each one. Candles,
flowers, and other items of importancelike scarves and bracelets are neatly displayed near
(35:17):
and around the area to remind thosewho visit of what happened there in two
thousand and ten. To the leftof the staircase, written in seven languages,
the native tongues of the twenty onevictims are the words love never ends.
(35:52):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Untimely. As always, it
would be great to hear what youthought of this episode. Send us a
note at Untimely podcast at gmail dotcom. If you like this episode,
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family members. Also, if youhave a few minutes, please rate and
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connect with us on Twitter at UntimelyPodcast. We'd love to hear from you.
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