Christmas lights terror: Families tell of crush
crush at lights
SIXTY people were injured, four of them seriously, as Birmingham’s Christmas Lights celebration ended in terrifying scenes of chaos last night.
Frustrated fans, angry that they could not get into a free pop concert by X Factor favourites JLS at Millennium Point, stormed security barriers and broke through police lines, throwing bottles, coins and punches.
The resulting crush trapped members of the 20,000-strong audience at the front of the stage. Youngsters had to be helped from the crowd, some passed hand-to-hand over the heads of fans.
Paramedics and first-aiders treated the walking wounded at the scene, but some victims – one of them strapped to a spinal board – had to be taken to hospital by a fleet of ambulances.
Worried council chiefs immediately pulled the plug on the event, which had run for just an hour of the planned five and a half hours, fearing that people could be crushed to death.
Councillor Martin Mullaney, cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said at one stage: “This is Hillsborough all over again.”
The star-studded event had been billed as a family day, with a pop concert featuring 14 acts, a funfair and the switching on of the city’s Christmas Lights by chart stars Sugababes.
Instead it turned into a nightmare.
Large numbers of people were treated in a makeshift medical area, including a woman in her 30s who suffered severe crush injuries to her pelvis, shoulder and leg. Four people suffered fractured bones.
Eye-witnesses said that a disabled woman was pushed out of her wheelchair, and the chair was then trampled on by fans.
Many fans unhurt in the crush were badly shaken as the celebration turned sour. Children could be seen crying as their parents tried to shelter them from the chaos.
Mum Gemma Cartwright from Kings Norton, said it was the worst experience of her life.
The 32 year old NHS worker, who took her four children and her mother to see JLS, thought she was going to see a repeat of the Hillsborough tragedy, in which 96 football fans died.
“I was being crushed,” she said. “I was pushed up against the barrier and I had nowhere to go. My kids were hysterical.
“A young girl fainted in front of me and had to be passed over the crowd to the ambulance crew.
“I feel sorry for the police. They seemed to be outnumbered and weren’t coping. Birmingham Council should be ashamed. The place they chose wasn’t big enough to hold such an event.”
