When death comes calling for fans at music concerts

Die-hard music fans will vouch for the fact that minor injuries are part and parcel of the whole ‘concert experience’, whether it is scratches sustained while pushing and shoving your way to a front-of-the-stage spot or battling sun burns, heat strokes or dehydration, etc., after hours of waiting at the venue for their favourite musician(s) to perform.For a select few, though, attending a concert is unfortunately the last thing they will ever do, as they get caught in stampedes or other attacks, like what happened on Monday at US singer Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, UK.
Here’s a look at some music event disasters...
Artist(s): Ariana Grande
Venue: Manchester, May 22, 2017
What transpired: Twenty-two people died and over 50 were injured after a suspected terror attack explosion during the singer’s concert. The blast occurred at a public foyer just outside the arena, closer to the end of the concert. Upon hearing about the incident, the singer tweeted, “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.” (sic)
Artist(s): Eagles of Death Metal
Venue: Paris, November 18, 2015
What transpired: Nearly 100 people died when shots were fired at Bataclan, the venue at which the Eagles of Death Metal were performing. There were approximately 1,500 people at the venue at the time of the attack.
Artist(s): Sugarland
Venue: Indiana State Fair, August 13, 2011
What transpired: Seven fans of the country duo died and 58 were injured when the main stage collapsed following heavy rain. The accident occurred after opening act Sara Bareilles left the stage and Sugarland was set to perform.
Event: Love Parade
Venue: Duisburg, July 24, 2010
What transpired: Twenty-one people were crushed inside a tunnel and over 500 were injured due to a stampede at this electronic dance music festival in Germany that had over 8,00,000 people in attendance. Several people continued to dance at the festival unaware of the tragedy.
Event: Mawazine Musical Festival
Venue: Rabat, Morocco, May 23, 2009
What transpired: Eleven people were killed and 40 were injured in a stampede, as the nine-day musical festival was drawing to a close with Moroccan singer Abdelaziz Stati’s performance. Even though there were seven exit gates, people rushed to leave the venue early and jumped security fences.
Artist(s): Callajeros
Venue: Buenos Aires, Dec 30, 2004
What transpired: One hundred and ninety four people were burnt to death after a spark set fire to the Republica Cromagnon club’s roof, bringing the whole building down. What’s worse was that organizers had locked the fire exits to prevent people from sneaking into the venue.
Artist(s): Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Darrell ‘Dimebag’ Abbott
Venue: Columbus, Ohio, Dec 8, 2004
What transpired: A fan shot Darrell ‘Dimebag’ Abbott three times in the head while the band Damageplan was performing at the venue. The shooter also killed four others and injured seven more at the venue.
Artist(s): Pearl Jam
Venue: Roskilde, June 30, 2000
What transpired: Nine people suffocated to death at the Roskilde Music Fest, as several of the 50,000-strong crowd fell and were crushed under a human pile.
(With inputs from Sandra Fernandes)