Youngsters fought for their lives after hotel stampede
BY PAUL BYRNE WITNESSES have told of the horror of a “stampede” in which three teenagers died at a St Patrick’s Day disco.
Lauren Bullock, Morgan Barnard, both 17, and Connor Currie, 16, were fatally injured in the crush outside the venue.
A crowd of about 100 youngsters were waiting to go into the Greenvale Hotel, in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, when the tragedy happened.
Dozens were pushed to the floor after a surge.
One witness described a “stampede” and others spoke of “pushing and shoving” as people tried to get into the event.
Writing on Facebook, one young woman said: “I could still see people laughing with no idea what was going on. At this point, I thought my friends were going to die. I was standing up and I couldn’t breathe so I couldn’t imagine how they felt.
“I was hysterically screaming for people to move.
“With more and more pushing, I also fell. But... I wasn’t on the ground, I was on top of someone, and this person was on top of someone else.
“As I looked down I could see multiple bodies underneath me and as I looked up, I could see multiple bodies on top. It was the most traumatic, frightening and stressful moment of my life.
“People were scratching, biting and grabbing anything they could to pull themselves up to breathe. People were literally fighting for their lives.”
Police are examining CCTV footage from the venue.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said “preliminary investigations show there was a crush towards the front door of this hotel, and in that crush people seem to have fallen”.
He added: “There seemed to be a little bit of struggling going on to get people up off the ground and that might explain also why there was a report of some fighting.
“It is heartbreaking that an event which should have been fun for these youngsters on St Patrick’s night should end in such a terrible tragedy.”
Conor Currie was a talented Gaelic football player and his club, Edendork St Malachy’s GAA, said it was “deeply saddened and devastated” at his death.
Lauren Bullock was a student at St Patrick’s College in Dungannon and Principal Catherine McHugh described her as “a shining light in our school community”.
A friend called Morgan Barnard an “angel”.
Another 16-year-old girl remains in hospital in a stable condition.