When Crowd Control Fails: 1989 Hillsborough Stadium Disaster
By: Daniel Duque
Whether it is a famous artist or an important sports game that nobody wants to miss, there is a limit to how many people can attend a live event. The attendees' safety can be negatively affected if crowd control is not done correctly. Evidence of this is the recent tragedy that took place during rapper Travis Scott's Astroworld festival, which due to the incorrect measures to control attendance, resulted in the deaths of ten people and multiple injuries.
The world of soccer was hit with one of the worst and most known tragedies that took place inside a stadium. 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives in Hillsborough Stadium because of a human avalanche due to the failure of controlling the crowd in attendance.
People getting crushed against a fence during the game.
Courtesy of BBC
In the afternoon of April 15, 1989, the Football Association cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was scheduled to start at 15:00, but hours before kick-off the crowd had already taken over the outside of the stadium waiting to enter. The match was sold out meaning more than 50,000 fans from both sides were expected to attend the game.
Hooliganism (violent behavior from fans) was a concern among authorities and pacific fans. In order to avoid brawls between the two sides of supporters, both crowds were segregated and given a specific part of the stadium to watch the game. Despite Liverpool being the more popular club, their supporters were assigned the smaller side of the stadium which had a limited amount of turnstiles.
Diagram showing the situation outside of the stadium.
Courtesy of BBC
At 14:45, 15 minutes before the start of the game, multiple Liverpool fans were shown by TV footage pressing against large exit gate C. This caused a congestion in the turnstiles in which people were starting to be crushed. The pressure was a lot so in order to alleviate the situation, police in charge gave the order to open gate C and over 2000 fans rushed through the main tunnel which caused the collapse of a barrier and a crowd crush when the game kicked off.
Diagram showing what happened after gate C was opened.
Courtesy of BBC
After kick-off, fans who were located in pens three and four were pressed against the fences causing them asphyxia. In attempts to survive, some fans began to climb the fences and others were dragged to safety by those sitting on the upper level. After six minutes player Roger Greenwood asked the referee to stop the game. The surviving supporters tried to rescue those stuck in the crowd.
Supporters from the upper level rescuing people from the crowd crush.
Courtesy of The Guardian
Police delayed emergency services under beliefs the crowd crush was the result of violent supporters. It was not until later that they knew something was wrong. Only two ambulances made it to the site of the crowd crush, 14 out of the 96 people who died were taken to the hospital.
The incorrect crowd control, police errors when taking decisions, the delay of emergency services and the structure of the stadium led to this disaster that is considered the worst tragedy inside a soccer stadium and a very sad day for Liverpool fans.
Memorial for the victims of the crowd crush.
Courtesy of Britannica
Security measures were increased all around the world in order to avoid a similar tragedy from happening in a soccer game. Today, most soccer stadiums removed fences separating the field from the fans to make it easier to escape in case of a crowd crush and crowd controls are much stricter and organized.
This tragedy was a shocker for the world of soccer, but it was an unfortunate way to teach a lesson that there are limits for everything and the capacity of Hillsborough Stadium had a limit that was exceeded that tragic day. The victims will always be remembered.