Buzz
The devastating tragedy at the Cambodia Water Festival on November 22, 2010, serves as a stark reminder of how crowd dynamics can turn deadly and uncontrollable.
Human panics and stampedes typically fall into two categories: acquisitive panics, where individuals rush to grab something of value—whether it's a prime theater seat or a popular toy on Black Friday—and the more familiar form of panic, where people frantically flee from a life-threatening situation, such as a fire in a packed nightclub. Both types of behavior can result in catastrophic stampedes, claiming the lives of many, sometimes even hundreds.
Although many stampedes begin as chaotic, selfish rushes driven by individuals' survival instincts, there are instances where the crowd becomes a source of compassion and selflessness. Some people actively help others, whether by calming the panic, assisting those who have fallen, or helping the most vulnerable escape the crowd.
A study spanning 30 years and analyzing 215 stampedes found that religious gatherings are the most common setting for such incidents, followed closely by sports events, political rallies, and concerts. While crowd size plays a role in the likelihood of a stampede, factors like whether the gathering is organized or spontaneous (e.g., a political protest) are also crucial.
The study of human behavior in panic situations, including the factors that trigger crowd panic, how people react under stress, and the dynamics of stampedes, is still evolving. However, there are recurring patterns observed in many tragic stampedes.
10. The Who Concert - 11 Lives Lost
On December 3, 1979, thousands of rock fans gathered outside Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, eagerly awaiting entry to see The Who perform. This was the band's first U.S. tour in years, and their shows were selling out across the country. I, at 20 years old, was among those anticipating my own first Who concert in Philadelphia a few nights later. The news of what happened that night in Cincinnati came as a shock to fans everywhere. When the doors to the stadium opened, around 25 people were knocked down in the rush to get in, just steps from the entrance. Tragically, 11 fans were crushed to death in the stampede.
The concert continued as planned, with no immediate mention of the tragedy. The band was encouraged to keep the performance going and finish the show. It wasn't until later, backstage, that The Who were informed of the devastating events that had unfolded. They were left in complete shock and disbelief.
The concert was organized with festival seating, a common practice at the time where seating was available on a first-come, first-serve basis. After the tragedy, many concerts moved away from this approach. The cold weather, hours of waiting, and the excitement of seeing the band, along with the desire to secure a good seat, all contributed to the chaos. The media depicted the crowd as reckless, describing them as drunken and drugged individuals who trampled others in a selfish rush for seats. However, those who were there reported a different story, noting how many people tried to help those who had fallen or were struggling. While the rush to get good seats (the acquisitive push) played a part in the disaster, for those trapped at the doors, escaping the crushing crowd and reaching the safety beyond became a desperate fight for survival (the surge to safety).
Over 25 years later, Pete Townshend captured the grim reality of that night and other dark sides of show business in the song 'They Made My Dream Come True' from The Who's 2006 album 'Endless Wire'.
“People died where I performed People cried when Glass deformed Shots rang out as the singer yawned The band played on until the dawn”
“Lies and drunks and drugs and fools Tricks and stunts disguise the tools Was the victim dead, was the blood in pools Was this not part of show-biz rules?”
9. Brooklyn Bridge Panic - 15 Lives Lost
The construction and unveiling of the Brooklyn Bridge remains one of the most remarkable achievements in engineering history. Not only was it the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world at the time, but it also connected Manhattan and Brooklyn by foot for the very first time, spanning the East River. Stretching 1,600 feet long and soaring 100 feet above the water, it took 14 years to complete, cost $15 million, and claimed the lives of 20 workers. Yet when it was finished, the bridge stood as a monumental marvel, dominating the New York City skyline.
On May 24, 1883, the bridge's grand opening attracted a massive crowd, with an estimated 150,000 pedestrians paying a penny each to cross it on that historic day.
On May 30, 1883, the bridge was crowded as usual with hundreds of pedestrians when someone falsely cried out that 'the bridge is collapsing!' Many people, still unsure about this massive new structure, panicked and believed the rumor. In the ensuing chaos, 15 people were tragically trampled to death as they tried to escape the bridge.
To reassure the public and prove the bridge was safe, none other than the famous showman PT Barnum led a parade of elephants back and forth across the bridge.
8. Love Parade Stampede - 21 Dead
On July 24, 2010, a devastating stampede took place during the Love Parade, an electronic dance and music festival held in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
The Love Parade, which originated in Berlin in 1989, had become a well-loved festival and parade. However, this event marked the first time the Love Parade was held in an enclosed space. The designated area was meant for 250,000 attendees, but the crowd size ranged from 200,000 to a staggering 1.4 million people.
As the festival began, people started entering through a tunnel from the east and underpasses from the west. These paths converged at a ramp, which was intended to be the only entrance and exit for the festival area. There was a smaller ramp between the underpasses from the west. Due to overcrowding, the police began making announcements on loudspeakers, urging newcomers to turn back. Despite the closure of the entry tunnel, people continued to flood into the tunnel from the rear, leading to a tragic stampede when the ramp connecting the underpasses to the festival area became dangerously overcrowded.
Witnesses reported that some individuals began to fall from the stairs, unintentionally pulling others down with them, which triggered panic among the crowd in the tunnel. While some speculated that falling was the primary cause of death, autopsy reports revealed that all the fatalities were due to crushed rib cages.
The police chose not to cancel the festival that day, fearing it would provoke another panic. However, the festival organizers later declared that there would be no further Love Parades as a tribute to those who lost their lives.
7. Luzhniki (Lenin) Stadium Disaster - 67 to 340 Dead
On October 20, 1982, on a chilly and snowy day, a match took place between FC Spartak Russia and HFC Haarlem at Lenin Stadium (now Luzhniki Stadium) in Moscow, Russia. Due to the cold weather, only a few tickets were sold, and the east stands were the only section open to spectators. For security reasons, only one exit was available from the stands. As the game neared its end, with Spartak leading 1-0, people began leaving the stadium through the sole exit. During injury time, Spartak scored a second goal, and the player who netted it later confessed that he wished he hadn't scored it.
Some fans who had already exited the stadium, upon hearing the crowd cheer the second goal, attempted to reenter but were met by a flood of people still trying to leave. Guards blocked those leaving from turning back, and a stampede ensued. Many people were killed. One survivor recalled how the stairs were slippery, and as those exiting collided with those trying to reenter, some fell. The falling individuals caused a chain reaction, and the steel banisters on the stairs collapsed. At least 67 lives were lost, but survivors and families claim the death toll was closer to 340. As was common in the Soviet Union at the time, the media barely covered the tragedy, and it wasn’t until 1989 that it was openly discussed.
6. Italian Hall Disaster - 73 Dead
The early 20th century U.S. labor movement was marked by violent struggles and significant loss of life. One of the most tragic incidents occurred on December 24, 1913, in Calumet, Michigan, when striking mine workers and their families gathered for a Christmas celebration at the Italian Hall. Over 500 people were attending the event when someone falsely shouted, “fire!”
Though there was no fire, it's crucial to understand the fear of fire during this era. In the 1800s and early 1900s, people were terrified of being trapped in burning buildings, and rightfully so – theaters and public spaces were often fire hazards. Everyone knew of major fires, such as the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago just a decade earlier, which killed 602 people. Before fire safety laws, most buildings lacked safe exits, and a shout of 'fire!' in such a setting was terrifying. In contrast, today’s crowds would likely dismiss such cries, understanding that public spaces have fire exits. But in 1913, the word 'fire' meant a real, life-threatening danger to a crowd that had witnessed or heard of such tragedies.
As was common in such buildings, there was only a single, narrow staircase leading out. In the panic that ensued, as people believed the building was on fire, 73 individuals, including 59 children, perished in the crush of the crowd.
To this day, no one knows for sure who shouted 'fire!' The most widely accepted theory is that a member of the company's anti-union 'goon squad' was the one who made the cry. The act of yelling 'fire!' in a crowded building would later become an infamous metaphor in U.S. law. In the 1919 case Schenck vs. the United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously wrote an opinion in which the phrase 'shouting fire in a crowded theater' became emblematic of speech that exceeds the boundaries of free speech, involving reckless or malicious actions with clearly disastrous outcomes. The phrase is often cited as an example of speech that is not only useless but dangerously reckless in certain contexts. Woody Guthrie would immortalize this event in his song '1913 Massacre.'
5. Hillsborough Stadium Disaster - 96 Dead
On April 15, 1989, a tragic incident occurred during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England.
Due to years of violent fan behavior at British football matches, known as 'Hooliganism,' most UK football stadiums were equipped with high steel fencing. These fences were intended to keep fans off the pitch and prevent them from throwing projectiles onto the field and at players and officials. As a result of these security measures, stadiums in the UK had a history of crowd crushes, including a major incident at Hillsborough Stadium in 1981, where 38 people were injured.
In accordance with standard security protocols, fans from opposing teams were separated at opposite ends of the stadium. Nottingham Forest fans were placed in one section with a capacity of 21,000, while Liverpool supporters were located in a smaller area with space for only 14,600. Adding to the tension, many fans arrived late due to traffic congestion. Though the match was scheduled to begin at 3 PM, large crowds of fans were still waiting to enter the stadium as late as 2:40 PM, eager to get inside before the game began.
A bottleneck quickly formed, with more fans arriving than the two cages in the middle of the Liverpool section could accommodate. The fans outside could hear the cheers as the teams entered the pitch ten minutes before the match, and again as it kicked off, but they couldn’t get in. Despite the delay, the match wasn’t postponed. Over 5,000 fans tried to push through the turnstiles, prompting police to open more gates. This led to a massive influx of fans into the stadium, funneling through a narrow tunnel into two already overcrowded pens. Those at the front were crushed by the overwhelming force of those pushing from behind, but the new arrivals couldn’t see the danger. On that day, police, who would normally monitor the crowd from key positions, were absent from their posts.
It wasn’t until three minutes into the game that the referee halted the match when spectators began scrambling over the fence to escape the crush. A small gate was forced open, allowing some people to escape, while others climbed the fence or were pulled to safety by fans in adjacent pens. Eventually, the fence collapsed under the pressure.
Those trapped at the front of the fence were packed so tightly that many suffocated to death from compressive asphyxia, dying while still standing. In total, 96 people lost their lives, and 766 others were injured, making this the deadliest stadium disaster in British history and one of the worst stadium tragedies of all time.
4. Victoria Hall Disaster 183 Dead
The tragedy of this stampede is made all the more heartbreaking by the fact that all 183 victims were children, aged between 3 and 14 years old.
On June 16, 1883, over a thousand children gathered at Victoria Hall concert hall in Sunderland, England, for a show. Near the end of the performance, an announcement was made that children with special numbered tickets would receive gifts as they exited the hall. In their rush to claim their prizes, the children stampeded from the gallery towards the bottom of the staircase. There, they encountered a small, single doorway, barely large enough for one child to pass through at a time. Adding to the chaos, the door swung inward, against the flow of children trying to squeeze through.
At the entrance, children were crushed under the pressure of others pushing to get through. Adults quickly realized the unfolding disaster and attempted to open the door to allow more children to escape. However, the door had been bolted on the children's side and was out of their reach. A custodian managed to redirect about 600 children to safety, while others pulled children through the door one at a time. Eventually, a man managed to tear the door off its hinges, but it was too late. The crushing force of the crowd had already claimed 183 young lives due to compressive asphyxiation. This tragedy sparked outrage and led to reforms in building design, including the installation of outward-opening doors equipped with panic bars.
3. The Hajj Thousands Dead
The Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, has been the site of numerous deadly stampedes and crushing incidents over the years.
Each year, approximately three million pilgrims travel to Mecca in an attempt to fulfill the religious obligation of making a pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Sadly, for many, their first journey to Mecca becomes their final one.
With the rise of jet travel, the number of pilgrims visiting Mecca has surged to unprecedented levels. This has led to massive crowds that, while seeking to navigate from one station of the pilgrimage to another, have resulted in tragic incidents where people are trampled, leading to deadly stampedes.
The most perilous moment of the pilgrimage is the stoning of the devil ritual. During this event, Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls, known as jamarat, located in the city of Mina, just east of Mecca. It is one of the key ritual acts that form part of the Hajj.
To facilitate access to the jamarat, a single-tier pedestrian bridge, the Jamaraat Bridge, was constructed. This bridge allows pilgrims to throw stones either from the ground level or from the elevated platform. However, sudden movements in the crowd near or on the bridge can lead to people being crushed. On multiple occasions, stampedes have caused hundreds to be suffocated or trampled to death.
In recent years, the bridge has been expanded to handle the growing number of pilgrims, but the immense crowd size makes it difficult to manage the ritual. To further improve safety, the jamarat pillars were replaced with walls, which are easier to target with pebbles, speeding up the stoning process.
Despite these new safety measures, controlling the crowd remains a significant challenge. Conditions are particularly difficult on the final day of Hajj, when, according to hadith, the Prophet Muhammad performed his last stoning after the noon prayer. While many scholars suggest that the stoning can take place at any time between noon and sunset, many Muslims believe it must occur right after the noon prayer, leading to a massive rush of pilgrims performing the ritual simultaneously.
The worst disaster occurred in 1990 when a stampede in a pedestrian tunnel claimed the lives of 1,426 people. Subsequent stampedes during the stoning ritual included 270 deaths in 1994, 251 in 2004, and 289 in 2006.
2. Baghdad Bridge Stampede 953 Dead
Large crowds and bridges have a history of tragedy when combined. On August 31, 2005, nearly one million pilgrims had gathered around or were marching toward the Al Kadhimiya Mosque, the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kazim, one of the twelve Shi’a Imams. To reach the shrine, they needed to cross the Al-Aaimmah bridge over the Tigris river, which runs through Baghdad, Iraq.
Tensions in the crowd were already high earlier in the day following a terrorist mortar attack that killed several people. Fears of another imminent attack, possibly a suicide bombing, loomed. One account claimed a man pointed at another, accusing him of carrying explosives, which set off panic among the crowd.
In the ensuing panic, people rushed towards the bridge, which had initially been closed. When a gate at the end of the bridge was opened, a surge of people pushed through, trampling and crushing anyone who fell. At the opposite end of the bridge, a locked gate couldn't be opened, and if it had been, it would have opened inward, toward the mass of people. The force of the crowd caused even more crushing against the fence, and railings on the sides of the bridge collapsed, sending people falling 9 meters (30 feet) into the Tigris river below. Many of the victims could not swim and drowned, while others lost their lives in heroic attempts to rescue them. At least 953 people died from either being crushed or drowning.
1. Phnom Penh Stampede 465 Dead
Just days ago, on November 22, 2010, the Phnom Penh stampede became yet another tragic reminder of the deadly combination of large crowds and bridges. As of the writing of this list, at least 465 lives have been claimed by the disaster.
The disaster struck toward the end of the three-day Khmer Water Festival in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. This festival celebrates the end of the monsoon season and the biannual reversal of the Tonlé Sap river's flow. Each year, upwards of four million people attend the event.
On the day of the tragedy, around 10,000 people had gathered on Diamond Island, a small patch of land on the river, to watch a boat race and enjoy a concert. In recent years, several fatalities had occurred in the river during the festival, leading authorities to focus on preventing more drownings. However, their attention was largely directed at the water, leaving the land-based crowd unmonitored.
The tragedy unfolded on the bridge spanning the river, linking the island to the mainland. Authorities estimate that between 7,000 and 8,000 people were on the bridge during the stampede. As a suspension bridge, some theorize that the unfamiliarity of the crowd with such bridges led to panic when they felt the structure sway, causing them to fear it was on the brink of collapse. Many victims later reported being trapped on the bridge for several hours, even after the chaos had already occurred.
The exact cause of the stampede remains unclear. Some reports suggest that pushing from both ends of the bridge triggered panic, while others indicate that people in the middle were trampled or crushed as the crowd surged. There were also claims that some individuals, trying to flee the crush, pulled down electrical wires, leading to electrocutions, though this remains unconfirmed. One account points to a panic caused by several people collapsing unconscious on the crowded island, while another attributes the chaos to the bridge swaying. Yet another story suggests that police attempted to disperse the crowd by firing a water cannon, though this claim is also unverified.
Some survivors have stated that authorities had blocked access to a second bridge, forcing everyone to cross the single remaining bridge, further exacerbating the overcrowding and panic.
+ Bethnal Green Disaster 173 Dead
During World War II, it became common for Londoners to take shelter in Underground stations during air raids. On March 3, 1943, hundreds of people were trying to enter the Bethnal Green station in East London. An unrelated explosion nearby caused widespread panic, and a woman with a baby fell on the stairs, causing a chain reaction where many others fell as well. In just 15 seconds, 300 people were crushed in the stairwell, 173 of whom lost their lives. No bomb had struck, and the casualties were not the result of military aggression, making it the deadliest civilian disaster of World War II in the UK. For morale reasons, this event was not reported at the time.
