The Last Loveparade

Process

how did the disaster unfold

At 16h35, shockwaves in the crowd are visible: Video by Dirkbvb74; 16h35m32; duration: 00h00m41s

Video by Coolwojtek; 16h54m16s; duration: 00h02m41

15h13:

About 42 minutes later, at 15h55, they are patiently (!) waiting in the West-Tunnel, waiting to enter the Festival:

Meanwhile, in the streets of Duisburg, visitors are walking towards the Festival-terrain. A group of Friends from Osnabrück travel to Duisburg. They pass pass the crossing Düsseldorfer/Mercatorstrasse at 15h13

An hour later, around 16h50, they have only just exited the West-Tunnel. They are now trapped in the massive crowd at the bottom of the ramp, near the infamous Staircase, close to the Traffic Shield (source: Daphne, Loveparade2010doku.wordpress.com):

These shockwaves, "Wellen-bewegungen" in German, match the theory of J.J. Fruin, Ph.D, crowd-management

At this moment, 16h35, Policeradio reports: "Jupiter 12/07 an Jupiter 1: 31 Kräfte melden Karl-Lehr-Straße im Tunnel zur Rampe kommt es zu lebensbedrohllichen Situationen auf Grund des Drucks, der von hinten kommt. Die Menschen werden da an die Mauer gepresst." There was (obviously) no adequate response.

In diagram, this is what happens:

In this Video we can also see Officer S. making the recorded Notruf - call to the alarmnumber:

While crowd density exceeds all safety capacity (2-3 ppl per m2: we see here 8-10 ppl per m2) , a Police-vehicle passes through the crowd between 16h50 - 17hours, intensifying the shockwaves:

"When crowd density equals the plan area of the human body, individual control is lost, as one becomes an involuntary part of the mass. At occupancies of about 7 persons per square meter the crowd becomes almost a fluid mass. Shock waves can be propagated through the mass sufficient to lift people off of their feet and propel them distances of 3 m (10 ft) or more. People may be literally lifted out of their shoes, and have clothing torn off. Intense crowd pressures, exacerbated by anxiety, make it difficult to breathe. The heat and thermal insulation of surrounding bodies cause some to be weakened and faint. Access to those who fall is impossible. Removal of those in distress can only be accomplished by lifting them up and passing them overhead to the exterior of the crowd." (Source: www.crowdsafe.com, J.J. Fruin, Ph.D, “Causes and Preventions of Disasters” published in “Engineering for Crowd Safety” 1993)

Video by Real02 16:58:29 – 17:03:38 duration: 00:05:09

"Hello S. here. We have one dead person. One person is gone. Directly at the exit. At the exit, at the entrance to the Love Parade. One dead person, possibly two. Possibly two. Please, emergency doctor. We need an emergency medic."

Radio-contact of the Policemen/Security of these min.s:

(17h05) It takes precious minutes (till about 17h20) to clear the chaos:

(17u04m49) Two minutes after the emergency-call the first paramedics arrive:

17:09 Radio recording Jupiter 01 an 12/07

Dringend Sanitäter runter in den Tunnel. Dringend Sanitäter runter in den Tunnel.

Ja, ist verstanden.

17:09 Radio recording Jupiter 01 an Egon 10

Wir brauchen im Bereich der Rampe und Karl-Lehr-Tunnel dringend mehrfach Sanitäter. Uns kollabieren da reihenweise die Leute (...unverständlich ).

17:09 Telefonkonferenz

Feuerwehr: Ist die Meldung verifiziert, oder nicht?

Polizei: Bezüglich der Toten?

Feuerwehr: Ja

Polizei: Nicht verifiziert. Man spricht von 1 oder 2 Toten. Ich habe auch gehört, dass wohl Personen überrannt worden sein sollen. Aber auch das muss erst noch geprüft werden. (...)

Feuerwehr: Das Problem ist folgendes, ne, wenn jetzt wirklich Leute tot getrampelt werden, im Tunnel, wir müssen jetzt massiv Entlastungsöffnungen schaffen und da sehe ich eben nur die Chance da frei zu machen, nach oben hin, wir müssen die Leute irgendwie wegkriegen. (...)Der Süden geht kaputt. Das ist Druck ohne Ende und im Norden ist Platz.(...) Alle Rettungswege öffnen. Massiv die Leute nach oben bewegen.(...)

(17u12m30sec) Meanwhile, rescueworkers, Officer S. and many volunteers, members of the audience, work feverishly to rescue victims from the 'pile of persons'

(17u18m58sec) About all victims can be reached, some are rescued, rushed to the hospital, for many it is too late:

(17u14m30sec) A group of at least 6 policemen arrive:

Through the radio, Policemen/Security staff keep asking for help:

17:13 Radio recording

Jupiter 01 an Jupiter 25/07

Wir brauchen vermehrt immer noch Sanitäter auf der östlichen Rampe im unteren Teil. Das ist auch ein (...unverständlich ) Fraktur.

Ja, Jupiter 25/07, ist schon mehrfach über den Stab weitergegeben worden.

At that moment, 17h02, two future victims can be seen alive in the video's made by eyewitnesses. In the screenshot of the multiperspective video, we see their backs only, for reasons af respect and privacy, but they are both identified as Dennis and Svenja.

(17u14m09sec) The guy in the pink T-Shirt, taking the pulse of a victim, is one of the 'Osnabrücker' kids we've seen before. They were in the West-tunnel at 15h55, and ended up at the Traffic Shield. Their friend Eike (21) got injured so badly, that he died later in hospital.

meanwhile at the ramp:

Nine Minutes later, the Police Command Center is still not fully informed,

and believes the dead got killed by climbing and falling:

(17h29m42s) At this point the situation around the Staircase, at the bottom of the ramp looks like this:

17:27 Telefonkonferenz

Polizei: Vorab vielleicht, wir haben einen bestätigten Toten.

Feuerwehr: Einen, ich hatte gerade zwei gehört.

(...) Ok, wir haben jetzt eine Meldung über 100 Verletzte im Karl-Lehr-Tunnel, aber noch nicht bestätigt und über Stabos von zwei Getöteten durch Absturz, das ist unsere Meldung. (... )

Polizei: Ich darf noch mal eins sagen, weil mir gerade der Kollege F. STST Düsseldorf reingeangen ist, das kann natürlich ne total falsche Information sein. Es sei reingekommen 15-20 Tote.

Feuerwehr: Was?

Polizei: Ich wiederhole das einfach nur, deswegen, Feuerwehr hat zwei Klettertote, richtig?

Feuerwehr: Ja im Moment und jetzt aktuell 4 Reanimationen, wie es hier steht.

Polizei: Okay

Feuerwehr: Also egal was, wir müssen massiv vermeiden, dass diese Drucksituation noch mal irgendwo auftritt. (...)

Input 1

many traumatized and injured

21 young persons lost their lives

• Only 774 members of the 1302 Security staff members showed up, although the number of 1302 would not have prevented the accident
• No loudspeaker system at the Terrain

Links:

Keith Still Report (PDF, English) : http://www.derwesten-recherche.org/2013/07/loveparade-die-geplante-katastrophe-das-still-gutachten-zum-download/

Criminologist prof. dr. Henning Müller: http://blog.beck.de/2013/05/26/loveparade-2010-gutachten-aus-england-katastrophale-enge-im-eingangsbereich-vorhersehbar

Will there be a courtcase yes or no? http://www.welt.de/regionales/duesseldorf/article117987606/Es-gibt-blinde-Flecken.html

http://loveparade2010doku.wordpress.com

LoPaDu: Not a tragic accident, but a crime: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/07/love-j29.html

Input 2

Lothar Evers DocuNews: http://docunews.org/loveparade/aktuell/

Petra Grünendahl: http://duisburgamrhein.wordpress.com/author/petragruenendahl/

2 multiperspective video's: http://www.youtube.com/user/jolievdk

My bookmarks: https://delicious.com/jolievdk/loveparade

Results

• Estimation: 245.000-470.000 would be at the Terrain together. Arrivals: 56.700-90.000 ppl per hr.
• Expected: a combined in and out flow of 145,000 ppl during peak hour.(From Event Organizers own data)

Thanks and Credits

(*Numbers: Keith Still Report)

• entrance/exit-system could only process 43,788 ppl. p. hr.*

Based upon (though not strictly following) the painstaking synchronization work, done by the punctilious Lopadokuteam at loveparade2010doku.wordpress.com, the Report of Keith Still, the texts of Prof. Dr. Henning Müller, Lothar Evers, Questions provided by Herr Horst Engel and many, many anonymous others like: Bergomil, Bös, Caro, Conrad, Daphne, Felix, Franbu, Freddy, Gast123, Helge, Jenny, Jessie, Julius, Kai, LadyK, Loelli, Lopachron, Lothar, Marek, Martina, Micha, Moonsun, Nick, NN, Outsider, Pilsbierchen, Preif, Profiler1960, Rockangel, Rstockm, Shredder72, Suzon, TheCircle , Tobias, Twitgeridoo

Why is German Law so slow?

The German authorities are still working on "official inquiries and investigations." German Criminologists (z.B. Strafrechtsprofessor Thomas Feltes) fear that the German law is too complex prove guilt. German law needs "individuelle Vorwerfbarkeit", and that will be very hard to prove.

See http://www.welt.de/regionales/duesseldorf/article117987606/Es-gibt-blinde-Flecken.html

Discussion on the legal aspects of the Loveparade Duisburg case:

http://blog.beck.de/2011/12/31/love-parade-ermittlungen-kommt-es-2012-zur-anklageerhebung?page=2

Input 3

Warnings from Police Staff and Citizens were ignored:

The (approved!) "Event Plan": walled ramp and tunnels serve as both ingress and egress system.

If math would have been done, it would have been clear that it would have lead to situations, excessive queuing, with 8-10 persons per square meter, as was the case.

The Last Loveparade, Duisburg, july 24, 2010

21 fatalities. They were 18-38 years old, and from Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Bosnia, The Netherlands, Australia.