Crowd collapses and crushes

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245 people died in the Lyon bridge disaster of 1711, when a large crowd returning from a festival on one side of the bridge found their way blocked by a collision between a carriage and a cart, and became trapped La catastrophe du 11 octobre 1711 au pont du Rhone.jpg
245 people died in the Lyon bridge disaster of 1711, when a large crowd returning from a festival on one side of the bridge found their way blocked by a collision between a carriage and a cart, and became trapped

Crowd collapses and crowd crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When numbers are up to about five people per square meter, [a] the environment may feel cramped but manageable; when numbers reach between eight and ten people per square meter, [1] [b] individuals become pressed against each other and may be swept along against their will by the motion of the crowd. [2] Under these conditions, the crowd may undergo a progressive collapse where the pressure pushes people off their feet, resulting in people being trampled or crushed by the weight of other people falling on top of them. At even higher densities, the pressure on each individual can cause them to be crushed or asphyxiated while still upright. [3]

Contents

Such incidents are invariably the product of organizational failures, and most major crowd disasters could have been prevented by simple crowd management strategies. [4] Such incidents can occur at large gatherings such as sporting, commercial, social, and religious events. The critical factor is crowd density rather than crowd size. [5]

Crowd collapses and crushes are often reported incorrectly as human stampedes, which typically occur when a large group of people all try to get away from a perceived risk to life. [6]

Background

One study has calculated that there were 232 deaths and over 66,000 injuries in the ten years between 1992 and 2002 as a result of such incidents, [7] but crowd scientists believe that such casualties are both vastly under-reported and increasing in frequency. One estimate is that only one in ten crowd injuries occurring in doorbuster sales are reported, while many, if not most, injuries at rock concerts go unreported. [7]

Dynamics

The average individual occupies an oval floorspace approximately 30 by 60 centimetres (1 by 2 ft)—0.2 square metres; 2 square feet—and at densities of 1 to 2 per square meter (or per 10 sq ft) individuals can move freely without contact. [3] Even if people are moving quickly, at this density one can avoid obstacles, and the chance of a crowd-related incident is minimal. Even at three or four people per square meter, [c] the risk is low; [8] however, at densities of five per square meter, [a] it becomes more difficult for individuals to move, and at higher densities of six to seven per square meter, [d] individuals become pressed against each other and can be unable to move voluntarily. At this point a crowd can begin to behave like a fluid, with individuals moved about by the pressure of those around them, and shockwaves can pass through the crowd as pressures within the crowd change. [9] [3] This can be highly dangerous, although some people actively seek this experience, such as at rock concerts [10] or football matches, [11] where the excitement, camaraderie, and literally "going with the flow" is for some an essential part of the experience, [12] and activities like dancing and moshing are common. The danger inherent in these conditions is that the crowd will collapse in on itself or become so densely packed that individuals are crushed and asphyxiated.

Crowd collapses

A crowd collapse occurs when a crowd is so dense that each individual is touching others all around and is, to an extent, supported by those around. This can occur whether the crowd is moving or stationary. If a person then falls, the support to those around is lost, while the pressure from those further out remains, causing people to fall into the void. This process is then repeated, causing a bigger void, and will progress until the pressure eases; meanwhile, those who have fallen are at risk of being smothered by the weight of bodies on top or being trampled as the crowd is swept over them. [5] An example of a progressive crowd collapse was the 2015 Mina stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj [13] when over 2,400 people were reported to have died.

Crowd crushes

At even higher densities (approaching ten people per square metre (one per square foot)) [1] a crowd can become so packed that people are crushed together to such an extent they can no longer breathe and are asphyxiated. [3] Such crowd crushes can occur when a moving crowd is funneled into a smaller and smaller space, when it meets an obstacle (such as a dead end, or a locked door), or when an already densely packed crowd has an influx of people, causing a pressure wave toward those at the front of the crowd. In this situation those entering may be unaware of the effect on those in front and continue to press in. [5] Examples of crushes are the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England in 1989, the Love Parade disaster in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 2010, the Astroworld Festival crowd crush in Houston, Texas, and the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea in 2022. [13]

Crowd "stampedes"

Stampede is a loaded word as it apportions blame to the victims for behaving in an irrational, self-destructive, unthinking and uncaring manner, it's pure ignorance, and laziness ... It gives the impression that it was a mindless crowd only caring about themselves, and they were prepared to crush people. In virtually all situations it is usually the authorities to blame for poor planning, poor design, poor control, poor policing and mismanagement.

Edwin Galea, professor of fire safety engineering at the University of Greenwich, England [14]

The term "stampede" is usually used in reference to animals that are fleeing a threat. Stampede events that involve humans are extremely rare and are unlikely to be fatal. [5] According to Keith Still, professor of crowd science at Manchester Metropolitan University, "If you look at the analysis, I've not seen any instances of the cause of mass fatalities being a stampede. People don't die because they panic. They panic because they are dying". [5] Paul Torrens, a professor at the Center for Geospatial Information Science at the University of Maryland, remarks that "the idea of the hysterical mass is a myth". [5] Incidents involving crowds are often reported by media as the results of panic. [15] [1] However, the scientific literature has explained how panic is a myth which is used to mislead the attention of the public from the real causes of crowd incidents, such as a crowd crush. [16] [17] [18]

Causes of death

In crowd collapse and crush incidents the most common cause of death is asphyxiation, caused either by vertical stacking, as people fall on top of one another, or by horizontal stacking, where people are crushed together or against an unyielding barrier. Victims can also exhibit bone fractures caused by the pressure, [19] or trampling injuries, when a crowd has swept over them where they have lain. [19]

Prevention

It is believed that most major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies. [20] Crushes can be prevented by organization and traffic control, such as crowd barriers. On the other hand, barriers in some cases may funnel the crowd toward an already-packed area, such as in the Hillsborough disaster. Hence barriers can be a solution in preventing or a key factor in causing a crush. One problem is lack of feedback from people being crushed to the crowd pressing behind—feedback can instead be provided by police, organizers, or other observers, particularly raised observers, such as on platforms or horseback, who can survey the crowd and use loudspeakers to communicate and direct a crowd. [21] In some cases it may be possible to take simple measures such as spreading movements out over time. [22]

A factor that may contribute to a crush is inexperienced security officers who assume that people's behaviour in a dense crowd is voluntary and dangerous, and start applying force or preventing people from moving in certain directions. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, some police and stewards were so concerned with what they saw as possible hooliganism that they took actions that actually made matters worse. [22]

There is risk of a crush when crowd density exceeds about five people per square meter. [a] For a person in a crowd a signal of danger, and a warning to get out of the crowd if possible, is the sensation of being touched on all four sides. A later, more serious, warning is when one feels shock waves travelling through the crowd, due to people at the back pushing forward against people at the front with nowhere to go. [21] Keith Still of the Fire Safety Engineering Group, University of Greenwich, said "Be aware of your surroundings. Look ahead. Listen to the crowd noise. If you start finding yourself in a crowd surge, wait for the surge to come, go with it, and move sideways. Keep moving with it and sideways, with it and sideways." [5] Other recommendations include trying to remain upright, and keeping away from walls and other obstructions if possible. [23]

After the 1883 crush known as the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England, which killed 183 children, a law was passed in England which required all public entertainment venues to be equipped with doors that open outwards—for example, using crash bar latches that open when pushed. [24] Crash bars are required by various building codes.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 1 square metre is approx. 10 square feet, giving about 2 square feet per each person
  2. ↑ around one per square foot
  3. ↑ about 3 or 4 square feet per person
  4. ↑ about 2 square feet per person

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asphyxia</span> Severely deficient supply of oxygen

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are many circumstances that can induce asphyxia, all of which are characterized by the inability of a person to acquire sufficient oxygen through breathing for an extended period of time. Asphyxia can cause coma or death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowd psychology</span> Branch of social psychology

A category of social psychology known as "crowd psychology" or "mob psychology" examines how the psychology of a group of people differs from the psychology of any one person within the group. The study of crowd psychology looks into the actions and thought processes of both the individual members of the crowd and of the crowd as a collective social entity. The behavior of a crowd is much influenced by deindividuation and by the person's impression of the universality of behavior, both of which conditions increase in magnitude with size of the crowd. Notable theorists in crowd psychology include Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904), and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Many of these theories are today tested or used to simulate crowd behaviors in normal or emergency situations. One of the main focuses in these simulation works aims to prevent crowd crushes and stampedes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panic</span> Sudden overwhelming sensation of fear

Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frantic agitation consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur singularly in individuals or manifest suddenly in large groups as mass panic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoning of the Devil</span> Ritual performed by Muslims during Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Stoning of the Devil is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. During the ritual, Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls, called jamarāt, in the city of Mina just east of Mecca. It is a symbolic reenactment of Ibrahim's hajj, where he stoned three pillars representing the Shaitan, and Muslims' temptation to disobey the will of Allah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowd</span> Group who have gathered for a common purpose or intent

A crowd is as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent. Examples are a demonstration, a sports event, or a looting. A crowd may also simply be made up of many people going about their business in a busy area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crash bar</span> Door opening mechanism

A crash bar is a type of door opening mechanism which allows users to open a door by pushing a bar. While originally conceived as a way to prevent crowd crushing in an emergency, crash bars are now used as the primary door opening mechanism in many commercial buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Al-Aimmah Bridge disaster</span> 2005 crowd crush in Iraq

The Al-Aimmah Bridge disaster occurred on August 31, 2005 when 965 people died following a panic, and subsequent crowd crush, on the Al-Aaimmah Bridge, which crosses the Tigris river in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaraat Bridge</span> Pedestrian bridge in Mina, Saudi Arabia, used by Muslims during the Hajj

The Jamaraat Bridge is a pedestrian bridge in Mina, Saudi Arabia, near Makkah used by Muslims during the Hajj ritual Stoning of the Devil. The purpose of the bridge is to enable pilgrims to throw stones at the three jamrah pillars either from the ground level or from the bridge. Jamaraat is the plural of jamraah, the Arabic term for each of the pillars involved in the stoning ritual. It literally means a small piece of stone or a pebble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PhilSports Stadium stampede</span> 2006 crowd crush in Philippines

The PhilSports Stadium Stampede was a crowd crush that occurred at the PhilSports Stadium in Pasig, Metro Manila in the Philippines on February 4, 2006. It killed 73 people and injured about 400. About 30,000 people had gathered outside the stadium waiting to participate in the first anniversary episode of the former television variety show Wowowee.

The 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede occurred on 3 August 2008 in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. 146 people died and 150 were injured when they were crushed, trampled, or forced over the side of a ravine by the movement of a large panicking crowd. Witness accounts suggest that events were initiated after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide. There were as many as 3000 devotees at the temple because it was a sacred place in the holy month of Shraavana of the Hindu Calendar. According to Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer from the area, at least 40 of the victims were children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stampede</span> Panicked running of a large group of animals

A stampede is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Although the term is most often applied to animals, there are cases of humans stampeding from danger too.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Who concert disaster</span> Rock concert disaster in Cincinnati, Ohio, US in 1979

The Who concert disaster was a crowd disaster that occurred on December 3, 1979, when English rock band the Who performed at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and a rush of concert-goers outside the Coliseum's entry doors resulted in the deaths of 11 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estadio Nacional disaster</span> May 1964 disaster in Lima, Peru

The Estadio Nacional disaster occurred on 24 May 1964 at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru, during a match between football teams from Peru and Argentina. An unpopular decision by the referee outraged the Peruvian fans, who invaded the pitch. Police retaliated by shooting tear gas into the crowd, causing a mass exodus. The deaths mainly occurred from people suffering from internal haemorrhaging or asphyxiation from the crushing against the steel shutters that led down to the street. The incident is considered one of the deadliest incidents in the history of association football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Houphouët-Boigny stampede</span> 2013 human crush at a stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

The 2013 Houphouët-Boigny stampede was a crowd crush that occurred as crowds departed a New Year's Eve fireworks display in the early hours of 1 January 2013 near the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It resulted in 61 deaths and over 200 injuries, mostly women and children. This was the second time in four years that a fatal crush incident occurred at the stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Mina stampede</span> Crowd crush incident

On 24 September 2015, a fatal crowd crush resulted in the death of more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom were suffocated or crushed, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, making it the deadliest Hajj disaster in history. Estimates of the number of dead vary: the Associated Press reported 2,411 dead, while Agence France-Presse reported 2,236 killed. Based on the total of the individual national reports cited in the table below, at least 2,431 lives were claimed. The government of Saudi Arabia officially reported two days after the event that there had been 769 deaths and 934 injured. These figures remained official at the time of the next year's Hajj and were never updated. The largest number of victims were from Iran, followed by Mali and Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Turin stampede</span> Fatal stampede in Italy

The 2017 Turin stampede occurred on 3 June 2017 when panic emerged in the Piazza San Carlo after a robbery attempt during a screening of the UEFA Champions League Final in Turin, Italy between local team Juventus and Real Madrid. Three people died as a result of the incident, and at least 1,672 people were injured.

John J. Fruin is an engineer, urban planner, and author known for his work in the field of crowd science. In 1983, he received the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation Engineering Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Meron crowd crush</span> Multi-casualty crush incident in Israel at public religious event

On 30 April 2021, at about 00:45 IDT (UTC+3), a deadly crowd crush occurred on Mount Meron, Israel, during the annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer, at which it was estimated that 100,000 people were in attendance. Forty-five men and boys at the event were killed, and about 150 were injured, dozens of them critically, making it the deadliest civil disaster in the history of the State of Israel. The crush occurred after celebrants poured out of one section of the mountainside compound, down a passageway with a sloping metal floor wet with spilled drinks, leading to a staircase continuing down. Witnesses say that people tripped and slipped near the top of the stairs. Those behind, unaware of the blockage ahead, continued. The people further down were trampled over, crushed, and asphyxiated by compression, calling out that they could not breathe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seoul Halloween crowd crush</span> 2022 crowd crush in South Korea

On 29 October 2022, around 22:20, a crowd surge occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea, killing 159 people and wounding 196 others. The death toll includes two people who died after the crush. The victims were mostly young adults; 27 of the victims were foreign nationals.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Haghani, Milad; Lovreglio, Ruggiero (9 December 2022). "Data-based tools can prevent crowd crushes". Science . 378 (6624): 1060–1061. Bibcode:2022Sci...378.1060H. doi:10.1126/science.adf5949. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   36480619. S2CID   254485601.
  2. ↑ "Crowd and traffic control could have prevented Seoul Halloween deaths". Japan Times . Bloomberg, Reuters. 1 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tchechne, Martin (2022). "Nine per square meter" (PDF). Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
  4. ↑ Fruin 2002, p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Benedictus, Leo (3 October 2015). "Hajj crush: how crowd disasters happen, and how they can be avoided". The Guardian .
  6. ↑ Syed, Armani (31 October 2022). "Why Crowd Crushes Like South Korea's Halloween Surge Are So Deadly". Time . Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  7. 1 2 Pearl 2015, p. 4.
  8. ↑ Pearl 2015, p. 6.
  9. ↑ Pearl 2015, p. 7.
  10. ↑ Hill, Tia (27 November 2019). A Crowd Safety Expert Explains Why People Mosh. Genius.
  11. ↑ Sampara, Pete "Kopite". "Kop memories". LFCHistory.net.
  12. ↑ Pete "LancashireLad" (22 October 2013). "Humour, loyalty & passion - Memories of the old Spion Kop". This Is Anfield. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  13. 1 2 Moore, Jack (24 September 2015). "What Caused the Hajj Tragedy?". Newsweek .
  14. ↑ Lock, Samantha (1 November 2022). "Crowd crushes: how disasters like Itaewon happen, how can they be prevented, and the 'stampede' myth". The Guardian .
  15. ↑ Feliciani, Claudio; Corbetta, Alessandro; Haghani, Milad; Nishinari, Katsuhiro (1 April 2024). "How crowd accidents are reported in the news media: Lexical and sentiment analysis". Safety Science . 172: 106423. arXiv: 2309.14633 . doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106423. ISSN   0925-7535. S2CID   262824786.
  16. ↑ Fahy, Rita F.; Proulx, Guylène; Aiman, Lata (August 2012). "Panic or not in fire: Clarifying the misconception". Fire and Materials . 36 (5–6): 328–338. doi:10.1002/fam.1083. ISSN   0308-0501. S2CID   145326665.
  17. ↑ Haghani, Milad; Cristiani, Emiliano; Bode, Nikolai W. F.; Boltes, Maik; Corbetta, Alessandro (8 August 2019). "Panic, Irrationality, and Herding: Three Ambiguous Terms in Crowd Dynamics Research". Journal of Advanced Transportation . 2019: e9267643. doi: 10.1155/2019/9267643 . hdl: 11343/227617 . ISSN   0197-6729.
  18. ↑ Haghani, Milad; Coughlan, Matt; Crabb, Ben; Dierickx, Anton; Feliciani, Claudio; van Gelder, Roderick; Geoerg, Paul; Hocaoglu, Nazli; Laws, Steve; Lovreglio, Ruggiero; Miles, Zoe; Nicolas, Alexandre; O'Toole, William J.; Schaap, Syan; Semmens, Travis (1 December 2023). "A roadmap for the future of crowd safety research and practice: Introducing the Swiss Cheese Model of Crowd Safety and the imperative of a Vision Zero target". Safety Science . 168: 106292. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106292. ISSN   0925-7535.
  19. 1 2 Evtushenko, Evgenii (1963). Precocious Autobiography. New York: Dutton. pp. 88–102, quoted in "Mourners Crushed at Stalin's Funeral". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. Michigan State University. September 2015.
  20. ↑ Fruin 2002 , p. 5: "Virtually all crowd deaths are due to compressive asphyxia and not the 'trampling' reported by the news media."
  21. 1 2 Ripley, Amanda (19 January 2009). "How Not To Get Trampled at the Inauguration". Slate . Retrieved 12 May 2009. Article acknowledges traffic engineer John J. Fruin and G. Keith Still of Crowd Dynamics Ltd.
  22. 1 2 Ro, Christine (21 March 2018). "The secret science that rules crowds". BBC Future. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  23. ↑ Mosia, Lebohang (7 November 2022). "A survival guide to avoiding asphyxiation in a crowd crush". Independent Online (South Africa).
  24. ↑ Stoner, Sarah (13 June 2008). "Children's deaths that shocked the world". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.

Sources

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