Stampede at rap concert kills 6, injures 53 in Italian disco

CORINALDO, Italy — A stampede at a rap concert in an overcrowded Italian disco killed five teenagers — three girls and two boys — early Saturday along with a woman who had brought her daughter to the event, authorities said.

Fifty-three people were reported injured, including 13 in serious condition.

Video broadcast on state TV RaiNews24 showed teenagers rushing out of a door and surging toward a low wall near an exit of the Blue Lantern disco in the central Italian town of Corinaldo, near Ancona on the Adriatic coast. The barrier then appeared to give way and a cascade of teenagers tumbled over it.

The bodies of the trampled victims were all found near a low wall, Ancona Firefighters Cmdr. Dino Poggiali told Sky TG24 News. The dead teenagers’ ages ranged from 14 to 16 and the mother who was killed was 39, said Col. Cristian Carrozza, commander of the Ancona province Carabinieri paramilitary police.

The dead woman had accompanied her 8-yearold daughter to the concert and was the mother of four children, Italian daily Il Messaggero reported.

Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta, who is popular with teenagers, was to perform at the venue.

Ancona Chief Prosecutor Monica Garulli told reporters that 1,400 tickets were sold, but the disco has the capacity to hold about 870 people. Later, Premier Giuseppe Conte said the disco had three rooms but only used one of them, with a capacity of 469 people, for the concert.

The stampede occurred shortly after 1 a.m., less than 30 minutes before the concert was to start. Italian media quoted concertgoers as saying that someone had sprayed an irritant, which triggered the panic.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella demanded that a “full light be shone on what happened, ascertaining any responsibility and negligence.”

BOBO ANTIC/AP Relatives and friends comfort each other Saturday outside the morgue in Corinaldo, a town in central Italy. Five teens, three of whom were girls, and a mother died.