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Lack of Security Systems at the Love Parade Tragedy
Aug 6, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Posted by
Steven
Installing security systems on large-scale events is a must in every event organizers’ list. Its importance is starting to be a known-fact, since it really helps the prevention of various crimes and accidents. Unfortunately there are still some that overlook this fact.
One of those unfortunate moments happened during the Love Parade last July 24, 2010. Love Parade is an electronic, dance music festival held at Duisburg, Germany. It is one of the oldest and largest electronic musical festivals in the world, attracting various attendees from different parts of Germany and across the globe.
Love Parade had already a number of disturbances under its name, such as robbery, theft, possession of drugs and sexually-related offenses. By this, the organizers have already been expected to tighten their security systems. But they were a disappointment.
For this year, the event was held in an old railway station and can only accommodate less than a million amount of people. However, it was reported that 1.4 million people dropped by the venue. Various security systems experts such as fire service investigators and safety experts had already warned about the site, that it could not contain such a massive amount of people.
Even though they have been warned beforehand, the organizers still continued the event because they are scared that it will create more panic if they will make the attendees aware of it. Unfortunately, those attendees near the entrance tunnel started to experience suffocation which caused more chaos.
The lack of security systems and preparations from the organizers’ end resulted to the deaths of 21 people and injuries of more than 500 people. Because of what happened, Rainer Schaller, the festival’s organizer, has announced that the parade will be permanently cancelled.
Proper security systems should have prevented this tragedy to happen. If only they had installed enough surveillance cameras and alarms, such accidents will never take place. Public and private authorities should learn a lesson from such unfortunate events.
