Eight die in concert crowd
On 5th November 2021 the crowd at the Astroworld music festival in Houston Texas suddenly surged forward. Within minutes, eleven people suffered cardiac arrests through the crushing of the bodies. Although emergency services were able to recover them from the crowd, eight subsequently died of their injuries in hospital.
The sad fact is that crowds can be highly dangerous places in which, all too often, we assume we will be safe.
Crowds exist commonly in the UK; as you move along a school corridor, at a sports venue, in IKEA, on the underground and at flower festivals. Wherever there is a large gathering of people which is constrained by its physical surroundings crowds exist and are potentially dangerous.
Crowds need not be measured in the thousands, they are more accurately a reflection of how tightly packed together a group of people are. Ten people may constitute a crowd in a lift in the same way 85,000 people do at a large event.
Crowds move like waves
Crowds move like waves and tides, pulling or pushing the people within it in the direction the mass wants to go. If you have ever attempted to walk against even a gentle well-ordered crowd you will relate to how difficult that can be.
If for some reasons the situation changes and the crowd becomes frustrated, angry or panicked that power will increase significantly.
The Dangers within crowds
The dangers involved within crowds include:
- Being unable to stay as a group, particularly with children;
- Being knocked off your feet or slipping to the floor and unable to get back up;
- Being squashed between people or against a hard obstacle or edge and asphyxiated;
- Being pickpocketed or robbed while in the crowd;
- Being swept along uncontrollably if the crowd reacts suddenly to an event;
- Being caught in a crossflow which drags you away from where you wanted to be, at a turnstile for example;
- Being caught between opposing aggressive groups before, during or after a sports event, for example;
- The collapse of a structure, probably temporary causing a sudden random crowd reaction.
These dangers will be exacerbated for more vulnerable groups or individuals, such as young children, older or disabled people.
Crowds are not rational
Crowds do not necessarily respond rationally to events, even if they have been well marshalled up to that moment. Individuals can be influenced by the things they see others doing, their direction of movement, climbing barriers or responding irately to somebody who seems to be in authority. Crowd behaviour can deteriorate quickly, spreading like ripples through large parts of the crowd.
People within a crowd are often not properly informed. It can be a playground for our emotions to react, driven by tiredness, survival instinct, de-hydration, the need for a toilet or general frustration.
Even if people react rationally to an event, it may cause surges and movement which cannot be controlled across the whole crowd. People in a specific area may respond to an individual who is loudest or taking some kind of decisive action, thinking them to be an expert who has an informed understanding of what is happening. This can trigger a larger scale response, even if everybody is heading in the wrong direction.
Rules to help you stay safe in a crowd
The following are good ideas to help you move individually, or as group through a crowd:
- Before you enter the crowd, know where you want to get to;
- If possible choose where and when you enter the crowd;
- Identify places to leave the crowd;
- If you need to move across it, move diagonally with the flow rather than against it;
- When you need to stop, move to the edge and find a safe place to stop where you won’t be pulled into the crowd;
- If you are travelling as a group, agree a place to meet up if you get separated. You may need to do this several times for an extended journey;
- Use a visual marker for everybody to see when moving as a group. Don’t feel shy of somebody carrying a distinctive piece of clothing, like tour guides;
- If you are travelling with younger children make sure older people take responsibility for specific children, so that nobody is forgotten;
- Keep younger children in front of you. Ideally move through the crowd with one adult leading, followed by children and then followed at the back by another responsible person;
- If you are disabled, or believe that you will struggle, seek assistance;
- Carry your bags securely;
- Stay on your feet. If you should fall or be knocked over, do everything you can to get to your feet immediately.
This post includes an excerpt from Street Safe Thinking. If you feel you need more help or support, please contact us.
