CROWD CONTROL
Labor shortages, inexperienced staff members and enthusiastic post-pandemic crowds have made safety planning more critical than ever. Three experts weigh in on what’s next. By Michael Popke THE DEATHS OF 10 FANS from compression asphyxia at November’s Astroworld music festival in Houston sparked questions that — almost six months later — had yet to be answered. “Compressive asphyxia in a crowd is something that has happened before; that is a hazard of certain general admission events,” says Steven A. Adelman of Adelman Law Group, a sports and entertainment legal firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Why did it happen at Astroworld? We just don’t know yet. The evidence is not available. But hopefully, industry professionals are asking themselves a series of sophisticated questions that really drill down to this: What does Astroworld tell me about my events?” Adelman, who also is vice president of the Event Safety Alliance and deputy chair of the Global Crowd Management Alliance, points to a pair of crowd-related tragedies in Yaoundé, Cameroon, both of which happened on back-to-back days in January 2022, as more immediate “teachable moments.” At Liv’s Nightclub in the Central African country’s capital city, at least 17 people were killed Jan. 23 when fireworks launched inside the venue reportedly ignited the ceiling and caused a stampede as patrons panicked. The next day, Jan. 24, at least eight people were killed and 38 injured in another stampede — this one outside of Yaoundé’s Olembé Stadium, which was hosting an Africa Cup of Nations soccer match. According to news reports, adults and children were trampled as fans squeezed through a narrow entrance gate. Adelman compares the soccer stadium stampede to the one outside Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum in 1979, triggered when a rush of concert-goers eager to see The Who pushed toward the arena’s only unlocked pair of doors. “Communication within the venue is vital,” he says. “In both instances, the mass of people outside the gates earlier than anticipated should have led operations staff to open at least some gates or doors early to relieve the pressure upon ingress. Also, communication from the venue to attendees [is vital], so there is less urgency to race in all at once.”
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