11 people have reportedly been left injured following a stampede incident at a train station near a recent Beyoncé concert in Georgia.
The incident took place after the pop star’s show at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta last week.
According to reports, the stampede ensued when swarms of concert-goers flocked to the nearby Vine City Station in the early morning hours of July 15 (local time).
While there, commuters crowded on an escalator going down into the station, causing a stampede that resulted in multiple hospitalisations and requests for medical assistance.
“One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport,” Stephany Fisher, the senior director of communications for Georgia’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority [MARTA], said per Daily Mail.
“Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations.”
Fisher said the commotion erupted when one fan “began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly”.
According to Daily Mail, it was a 10-year-old girl who inadvertently started the stampede when she began screaming after spotting a cockroach, spooking fellow commuters on the already overcrowded escalator.
The escalator has since been cordoned off to prevent further injuries, with Schindler, the manufacturing company which built it, saying it is currently investigating what led to the malfunction.
“At this time, we have no verified information as to the cause and it would be inappropriate to speculate,” Schindler said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
Footage of the incident shows the already packed escalator appearing to speed up before reaching a sudden stop, causing a sudden jerk that tossed many to the ground.
Rhonda Allen, the CEO of MARTA, said it would prevent such incidents in the future through more “aggressive” transit staffing at major events like a Beyoncé concert.
The concert was the final stop of Beyoncé’s run of Atlanta shows for her Cowboy Carter tour, which suffered another safety mishap last month when the singer was forced to pause a show after the flying car she was suspended in appeared to unexpectedly tilt mid-air.
Lead images: Duane Prokop/Getty Images and TikTok
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