Hillsborough inquiry told of sisters killed in terrace crush
TWO sisters gripped onto each other before dying in the Hillsborough disaster, an inquest into the tragedy heard.
Sarah Hicks, 19, and her younger sister Victoria, 15, were standing in the central pens behind the goal on the Leppings Lane terrace before being separated from their father, Trevor.
Witnesses said that the two sisters – who “seemed to be the only females in the area” – moved nearer to the front of the pen “to get out of the surges” as the crush built up.
Spectator Jeffrey Rex said he saw the two sisters in front of him and that Victoria – referred to as Vicki in the inquest – had her head tilted to the side and was “in a bad way” as her sister tried to support her.
He said that the crowd began shouting to the police to get the girls out but the appeals seemed to go unheard.
“I thought ‘this was something different; our lives are being threatened’,” said Mr Rex.
He told the hearing that Vicki was one of the first people in pen three to be affected by the crush after “a large burst of people just hit the back of the pen”.
The inquest heard that, despite pressure building and fans around them asking if they wanted to get out, Sarah had refused.
Witness Paul Hand said the girls had declined help despite looking “very distressed”, adding at “the final surge they just went”.
The Liverpool season ticket holders, together with their parents, had travelled from their home in Middlesex and arrived at the ground for the FA Cup semi-final against Notting- ham Forest on April 15, 1989.
Their mother, Jenni, was sitting in another part of the stadium.
Evidence given to the inquest sitting in Warrington heard that witness Alan Brookes noticed the sisters “seemed to be having difficulty breathing” before disappearing.
He told the inquest: “One minute they went forward again in another surge [then] they weren’t there.”
The inquest continues.