Six charged in 1989 stadium disaster in U.K.

LONDON — Prosecutors charged a former senior police commander with manslaughter on Wednesday in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster that left 96 people dead — long-awaited vindication for the families of the victims after authorities spent years blaming fans for the catastrophe.

The charges announced against former chief superintendent David Duckenfield and five others were met with applause from victims’ relatives, who had waged a decades-long quest for justice for their loved ones after the deaths were ruled accidental — a decision that was overturned in 2012 after a wideranging inquiry found a coverup by police.

The disaster — in which many victims were crushed against metal fences — prompted a sweeping modernization of stadiums across Britain, where standing-room-only sections like the one that contributed to the trampling of fans in the overcrowded stadium were commonplace. Top division stadiums were transformed into safer, allseat venues, with fences around the playing surface torn down to avoid further tragedies.

Last year, a new inquest found that all 96 fans had been unlawfully killed and an independent police investigation asked prosecutors to consider criminal charges in the case. The Crown Prosecution Service announced its highly anticipated decision on Wednesday, filing charges against four police officers, a lawyer and an official of the team whose stadium was the venue for the April 15, 1989, match.