Three teens dead in crush at disco
A TEENAGER who died following reports of a crush outside a St Patrick’s Day disco in Northern Ireland was a “beautiful soul”, her cheerleading group has said.
Lauren Bullock, 17, was the “backbone” of the team, Euphoria Allstar Cheerleading NI said.
Two boys aged 16 and 17 also died outside the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, on Sunday evening.
The cheerleading team said: “Euphoria are absolutely devastated to say we lost one of our senior athletes, Lauren Bullock, in the tragedy in Cookstown last night.
“You were the most down to earth, beautiful soul and our Coral team will never be the same without you. You were an incredible cheerleader and were the backbone of our team.”
Several hundred people were trying to get into the venue after being dropped off by buses.
A 17-year-old girl and two boys aged 16 and 17 died, one at the scene and two later in hospital, police confirmed.
A 16-year-old girl is in a stable condition in hospital, while a further two teenagers were treated for injuries they suffered dur- ing the incident. People struggled to get off the ground and there was confusion in the immediate aftermath between 9pm and 10pm on Sunday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) added.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said: “It is a truly awful incident, heartwrenching for everybody, particularly the families.”
The nightlife venue in Mid Ulster can take up to 500 people.
Mr Hamilton said preliminary investigations show there was a crush towards the front door of the hotel, and in that crush people seem to have fallen.
Security camera footage is being examined and police have appealed for videos captured by those present. The senior officer added: “We are examining now to see if the people who have fallen are those who are deceased.
“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.”
A social media user said she fell while in the crowd, recalling a “traumatic and stressful” experience.
She saw paramedics trying to resuscitate a young boy.
Six emergency ambulances and two rapid response vehicles responded shortly after 9pm on Sunday.
Four emergency doctors were deployed along with ambulance officers.
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service medical director Dr Nigel Ruddell said everything pointed towards it being a tragic accident.
Mr Hamilton added: “We are of an open mind... it looks like a crowd of young people, a large crowd, pushing up against the front of the hotel to get in to this event.
“We need people to come forward and tell us what happened.”