Still pointed to how some will set up pens around stages in order to break large crowds into smaller groups. Some venues will take precautions when they know a particularly high-energy crowd is coming to an event.
That includes having enough space for everyone and large enough gaps for people to move about. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the University of Suffolk in England who has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds.įirst is the design of the event, including making sure that the density of the crowd doesn’t exceed guidelines set by the National Fire Protection Association and others. “My research covers over 100 years of disasters, and invariably they all come down to very similar characteristics,” said G. “They were aware that people were dying and they were helpless to save themselves.” faces gasping in panic,’” the report said. “Survivors described being gradually compressed, unable to move, their heads ‘locked between arms and shoulders. Some of them packed into a tunnel and were getting pressed so hard into perimeter fencing that their faces got distorted by the mesh, the inquiry found. The deaths occurred as more than 50,000 fans streamed into the stadium for a soccer match on a warm, sunny day. Other listed causes included “inhalation of stomach contents.” inquiry into the Hillsborough tragedy found that a form of asphyxiation was listed as an underlying cause in the vast majority of the deaths.
