2.2.3 Hillsborough Disaster

11,000 people are estimated to have been at the stadium that day. Around 5,000 of the spectators were located in the main grandstand. The fast spread of the fire made it impossible for all the spectators in the main grandstand to evacuate fast enough, which caused the deaths of 56 persons and injured around 300. This is still one of the biggest tragedies in the English football (Klem, 1986); (Popplewell, 1985). This disaster is significant to this paper as the evacuation possibilities were challenged, because of the locations of evacuation routes and the rapid fire growth. Also certain behaviors in case of fire can be evaluated for this disaster.

2.2.3 Hillsborough Disaster

The 15th of April in 1989 another even more tragic disaster occurred in English football. Many blame the police and the security staff because that they admitted

25 HILLSBORUGH DISASTER

more spectators into the arena then it was designed for. When the capacity was exceeded pressure was built up from the people trying to enter from the back of the stand. As many as 96 people died and more than 400 got injured due to the crowd crush. Compressive asphyxia was the main cause of death (Stuart-Smith, 1998); (Hillsborough Independent Panel, 2012).This accident occurred in the beginning of the FA Cup semi-finals between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Over 50,000 spectators were on the site this day. The match was played at a neutral location and for various reasons a large part of the audience was late. As a result of this the police had difficulties handling the large number of fans outside the stadium. To handle the escalating situation a new entrance was opened to enter the stands. Because of the excessive amount of people trying to enter, great forces and pressures propagated through the crowd. The people closest to the fences, that shielded the pitch, were finally crushed (Stuart-Smith, 1998); (Hillsborough Independent Panel, 2012). This

disaster is of importance for this paper as it includes phenomenon during an ingress situation that is likely to happen during an evacuation. It highlights the importance of design of the stadium’s structure as well as crowd management and planning.