An Olympic concert venue in downtown Vancouver has reopened following an accident that injured 19 people at a free event late last night.
A show by the band Alexisonfire at LiveCity Yaletown in David Lam Park was abruptly halted when a mass of spectators rushed forward, causing a large barricade near the stage to collapse and hurling people to the ground.
The band was only part way into its first song when fans started surging towards the stage, a witness named TJ told CTV News.
"Everyone just moved a bit forward and unfortunately pushed a little too far, the fence went over," he said.
Witness Darren Goodridge, 28, said he saw about 30 to 40 people fall to the ground on top of one another.
"It was a mass of people rushing forward, and falling everywhere," he told ctvbc.ca by phone.
Live Nation President Paul Haagenson said the band stopped playing immediately when the barrier went down.
"[They] encouraged all the audience to calm down, take a step back and at that point, relieve the pressure at the front," he told CTV News.
Live Nation emergency medical personnel, including two emergency room physicians, rushed in to treat injured spectators.
Nine people were taken to hospital with mostly minor injuries, including a compound leg fracture and soft tissue damage. Ten more were triaged and taken to a medical tent on site. They were later released.
Haagenson said the company has used similar barriers for 20 years, and the incident is unprecedented.
"We're going to replace the barricade and just sure we don't find ourselves in this position again and investigate if that surge or that that situation doesn't manifest itself again," he said.
There were approximately 7,600 people inside the concert venue at the time.
Penny Ballem, Vancouver's City Manager, praised Alexisonfire for keeping the situation calm.
"The city feels extremely confident and basically very appreciative of the band who were superb in terms of keeping the crowd aware, moving them back, and then quietly asking them to exit the site," she said.
The band released a statement late Tuesday night thanking the security team, paramedics and police for moving in quickly.
"We've always taken great care in the safety of our fans and are saddened that this happened," the statement said.
"We especially want to thank our fans for co-operating and not making a bad situation worse. We are working directly with the production coordinators to review the events."
The rest of the concert was cancelled along with a planned fireworks display.
A show by the band Alexisonfire at LiveCity Yaletown in David Lam Park was abruptly halted when a mass of spectators rushed forward, causing a large barricade near the stage to collapse and hurling people to the ground.
The band was only part way into its first song when fans started surging towards the stage, a witness named TJ told CTV News.
Witness Darren Goodridge, 28, said he saw about 30 to 40 people fall to the ground on top of one another.
"It was a mass of people rushing forward, and falling everywhere," he told ctvbc.ca by phone.
Live Nation President Paul Haagenson said the band stopped playing immediately when the barrier went down.
"[They] encouraged all the audience to calm down, take a step back and at that point, relieve the pressure at the front," he told CTV News.
Live Nation emergency medical personnel, including two emergency room physicians, rushed in to treat injured spectators.
Nine people were taken to hospital with mostly minor injuries, including a compound leg fracture and soft tissue damage. Ten more were triaged and taken to a medical tent on site. They were later released.
Haagenson said the company has used similar barriers for 20 years, and the incident is unprecedented.
"We're going to replace the barricade and just sure we don't find ourselves in this position again and investigate if that surge or that that situation doesn't manifest itself again," he said.
There were approximately 7,600 people inside the concert venue at the time.
Penny Ballem, Vancouver's City Manager, praised Alexisonfire for keeping the situation calm.
"The city feels extremely confident and basically very appreciative of the band who were superb in terms of keeping the crowd aware, moving them back, and then quietly asking them to exit the site," she said.
The band released a statement late Tuesday night thanking the security team, paramedics and police for moving in quickly.
"We've always taken great care in the safety of our fans and are saddened that this happened," the statement said.
"We especially want to thank our fans for co-operating and not making a bad situation worse. We are working directly with the production coordinators to review the events."
The rest of the concert was cancelled along with a planned fireworks display.
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