Six dead, dozens hurt in Italy nightclub stampede

CORINALDO, Italy: Six people, including five teenagers, died and 120 were injured in a stampede when panic broke out during a rap concert at a packed Italian nightclub early yesterday. The suspected use of a pepper spray-like substance is thought to have sparked the chaos at the venue in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona in central Italy, the fire service said in a statement on Twitter. But carabinieri police spokesman Cristian Carrozza later said they were still “trying to ascertain what had caused the youths to rush out”, adding: “There are three exits and one of these was used.”

The victims include three girls and two boys aged between 14 and 16 and a 39-year-old woman who accompanied her daughter to the concert. Some 10 people are in a critical condition, doctors said, with at least 120 injured in total. “Around 1,400 tickets were sold for the concert and the place could only accommodate 870 people,” said Monica Garulli from the prosecutor’s office in Ancona. The exit used led to a small bridge and the car park. The force of the fleeing crowd made a railing collapse and dozens of people fell, crushing those at the bottom of the pile, according to a preliminary investigation.

Grainy mobile phone footage appeared to show part of a walkway collapsing, sending dozens of people tumbling down. Ironically, those who remained inside the nightclub were unharmed. “We were dancing and waiting for the concert to start when we smelt this pungent odor,” a 16-year-old boy who was taken to hospital told the media. “We ran to one of the emergency exits but we found it blocked, the bouncers told us to go back.”