19 Killed at Germany Love Parade
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has demanded an “intensive” investigation into the deadly stampede at the Love Parade music festival in Duisburg that killed 19 people and injured another 340 odd on Saturday.
Merkel said she was “appalled” by the tragedy, adding that everything must be done to ensure such deaths did not happen again.
The crush outside a tunnel at the entrance of the festival caused the deaths, survivors say the organizers were responsible for the tragedy.
They said the site was too small and warnings of overcrowding had been ignored.
The organiser of the festival has said there will be no more Love Parades.
German prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the disaster.
Speaking in the town of Bayreuth, Chancellor Merkel again offered her condolences to the families of those killed and injured, saying the federal administration had offered full support to the North Rhine Westphalia regional government.
Meanwhile, festival organiser Rainer Schaller appeared with officials at a news conference in Duisburg on Sunday, he said: “The Love Parade has always been a joyful and peaceful party, but in future would always be overshadowed by yesterday’s events.
“Out of respect for the victims, their families and friends, we are going to discontinue the event in the future, and that means the end of the Love Parade.”
The police have identified 16 of the dead, including six foreigners – from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia and Spain, all aged between 20 to 40 years.
The German media reported that the festival had drawn about 1.4 million people.
