Following 9/11, many people wondered what could possibly be next. What's in store for us... for humanity? Ten years later, there was a man who conceived of a future moment in time. A catastrophe that could have been prevented but there was little concern and no government resolve. But it would manifest itself as something completely different. It would represent the ultimate demonstration of terror... difficult to fathom, impossible to quantify. Yet the concept it was based upon was so simple. So seemingly inevitable. How could it be overlooked?
F.D.R.'s First Inaugural Speech: Nothing to fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amNpxQANk0M
:29 - :35 ("We have nothing to fear, but fear itself")
I doubt Franklin D. Roosevelt ever envisioned the Dominipede
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Human stampedes are a scary business. Difficult to predict. Impossible to control. They just simply don't happen that often in the U.S., but that doesn't mean they can't. Anytime you have large crowds and add that one variable... the induction of panic. Lightning strikes, tear gas, shots fired... an urgent desire to get inside or exit. To be somewhere else... at any cost, by any means necessary.
Most people assume that those who perish in a stampede are trampled to death. But really, they die from a process called crush asphyxiation. You literally die standing upright. Drowned by human compression. You literally get the life sucked out of you.
(GOOGLE EARTH PINPOINT IMAGERY / TICKET STUBS REPRESENTATIONS).
CHONGQING
The worst stampede in recorded history took place in Chongqing, China during the World War II Japanese bombing on June 6, 1941 After hearing the 'all clear' siren, Chongqing citizens left the shelter, but the air raid siren would sound again causing the crowd to scramble back against itself. It triggered a mass panic, killing approximately 4,000 people, most of them by suffocation.
(AUDIO: Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine, air raid siren)
LIMA
(May 24, 1964) Lima, Peru. Peru vs. Argentina. 318 dead and over 500 injured when a referee nullifies a late equalizing goal just 2 minutes from time.
And when local fan known as "Negro Bomba" charged the pitch to argue with the referee, police beat him with batons.
With emotions running high, police choose an inopportune time to fire tear gas into the crowd.
CINCINNATI
1979 "In the News" Cinncinatti Who Concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFzXzBQCzjc
:00 - :26 (basic intro)
Cincinnati, Ohio - Riverfront Coliseum stampede
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM4DvWOjvHs
3:04 - 3:23 (eyewitness account of the stampede)
The Who...30 years later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-p6Qu3vmL8&playnext=1&list=PL2A98300BE7AD7681&feature=results_video
:12 - :25 (eyewitness account of the stampede)
(AUDIO - The Who: "Won't get fooled again." - We'll be fighting in the streets. With the children at our feet, And the morals that they wroship will be gone.)
LUZHNIKI
The Russian Night: The Moscow Disaster on ESPN Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfl_Q7922ZU
05 - :34 (basic intro)
Sensing a loss, some left the frigid stadium early, but when Russian team Spartak Moscow scored an equalizer goal in injury time, fans tried to reenter the stands through a dark tunnel. The effect was referred to as a "human mincer." Sergei Shvetsov would later say, "I wish I hadn't scored." Officials from the former Soviet Union did not disclose the extent of the tragedy for years. In its immediate aftermath, the state run media reported 3 fatalities. Eventually, they upped the total to 66. Years later, it's publicly revealed the number could be as high as 340.
(AUDIO - consider Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma)
LIVERPOOL
Video investigating Hillsborough 20 years on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsYBPdRHDtM
:11 - :19 (description of the event)
The Hillsborough Disaster 1989 Unfolds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_SmM9KuhIQ
:16 - :52 (description of the crush)
Video investigating Hillsborough 20 years on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsYBPdRHDtM
2:17 - 2:21 (still clip of the crush against the fence)
2:29 - 2:54 (discussion of conspiracy, confusion, lack of leadership)
Liverpool (Hillsborough - BBC Newsflash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2jCm_oWnHo
:43 - :52 (fans trying to escape)
AUDIO ONLY - "You'll never walk alone"
http://thekop.liverpoolfc.com/_Liverpool-Fans-live-Youll-never-walk-aloneflv/video/1557048/173471.html
(1:11 - 1:43)
4 years earlier it was Liverpool fans again. This time in Brussels
Liverpool F.C. VS Juventus F.C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI9R1zhIl6c
1:18 - 1:27
Heysel Stadium disaster May 29, 1985 Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8_QpNue5S8
4:29 - 4:35
Heysel Tragedy 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQbW5ww1mCo
1:25 - 1:28 (description - "This is a level of violence, you won't see in the U.S.")
1:50 - 2:02 (vivid description of the stampede. "experiment in fear, humans being filleted")
:35 - :47 (footage of the gate crash - above movement)
(additional AUDIO - "You'll Never Walk Alone")
MECCA
Muslim Pilgrims Arriving in Mecca for Hajj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbdIEgfz810
:27 - :37 mass coordinated bowing in prayer
Inside: Mecca - National Geographic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFQHgdmJqjo
54:33 - 55:03 ("When you really want to go on hajj, you really feel invited. God wants me. Then you get here and see millions of people. And you're like an ant. And your significance is down to zero. It's a paradox, but it's a good paradox.")
Hajj Minister Iyad Madani quote -
"All precautions were taken to prevent such an incident, but this is God's will. Caution isn't stronger than fate," Madani said.
underlying audio - Marilyn Manson 2001 London, England
during the stoning of the devil ritual
"The Fight Song"
Nothing suffocates you more than
The passing of everyday human events
Isolation is the oxygen mask you make
Your children breathe in to survive
But I'm not a slave to a god
That doesn't exist
But I'm not a slave to a world
That doesn't give a shit
Fight, fight, fight, fight
If God is ultimately in charge of the maximum capacity for the fire codes, that's probably not the best strategy.
(VIDEO RESTRICTED)
Hajj stampede aftermath - CBS News Video
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1203505n
:38 - :39
shift into ambulance footage
1:29 - 1:31
Jamarat Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgyf2aHS6Hc
1:42 - 1:52
MADISON
73 student fans were injured, six critically, by a crowd crush shortly after a dramatic 13-10 upset victory over Michigan at the University of Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium. Although less common these days, college football fans still occasionally charge the field when celebrating a hard-fought victory. They jump over ledges onto the field, dodge pepper spray and tear down goal posts. Quite often, injuries happen but go unreported.
Badgers Michigan 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i95oTUxX8MA
6:25 - 7:29 (raw stampede footage)
Quote (2010) - "The 18-year-olds were one year old in ‘93," said UW-Madison Police Chief Sue Riseling. "They don't have any recollection of it. Our greatest worry is that what happened in ‘93 happens again. That would be just devastating."
Maybe things have changed.
Jump Around at Camp Randall Stadium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVS87pYQNvw:19 - :20
Wisconsin Jump around in student section at Camp Randall, Madison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tODlPxhbGF8
1:36 - 1:42
Jump Around - Bucky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uiBQC2--0w&list=PLFE63739F1BC3D57C
1:03 - 1:08
But maybe they haven't.
GUATEMALA CITY
(October 16, 1996) 82 killed, 147 injured on a steep stadium stairway prior to a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica in the Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.
ROSKILDE
Pearl Jam Roskilde Tragedy (PJ20) (sub. espanol)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtv9GT3cMh4
2:30 - 2:39 ("You know, I think we pretty much quantify everything as pre Roskilde and post-Roskilde).
:14 - :21 - (deadly tragedy)
:21 - :29 - (lot of pushing and people have been badly hurt)
BAGHDAD
(August 31, 2005) 953 deaths in Baghdad, Iraq at the Al-Aaimma Bridge. A Shiite religious pilgrimage turns disastrous.
Quote - "We were all chanting slogans about Imam Musa, and then people started shouting about a suicide bomber. They started crashing into each other; no one would look back or give a hand to help the ones who had fallen. People started running on top of each other, and everyone was trying to save himself."
Many were forcibly ejected from the bridge into the Tigris River below. There's a reason few people in the U.S. have never heard of the Baghdad Bridge Stampede, the largest single loss of life during the entire Iraq War. Because another disaster stole the news cycle... hurricane Katrina.
MANILA
Wowowee rescue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_tuXsLkhU4
:00 - :03 (intro information)
:20 - :22 (uses the word "stampede" and footage of faceless, still bodies)
Case Unclosed - Ultra Stampede p1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saqIFwy0cXw
5:45 - 5:51 (director - "this is when we decided to close the gate because the crowd was getting very agitated").
:10 - :13 (young girl getting stepped on)
:32 - :35 (women crying)
SUNCHON
(October 5, 2007) An estimated crowd of 150,000 gathered to watch a public execution in a stadium in Sunchon, North Korea. 6 people were crushed to death and 34 injured. Maybe it's just me, but isn't it ironic when people die during a funeral celebration.
JODHPUR
Jodhpur India Stampede (Hundreds Dead After Stampede at India Temple)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTx9NXEM_i8
:00 - :12 (base description - triggered by rumors of a bomb)
CONSIDER - 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede
162 people died when they were crushed, trampled, or forced over the side of a ravine by the movement of a large panicking crowd. Witness accounts suggest that events were initiated after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide.
LONG ISLAND
Walmart stampede - Black Friday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv-pUeY2jys
(paramedics performing CPR - store video footage. - just show a second from anywhere in the minute.)
Wal-Mart worker Killed in Black Friday Stampede Covered on Democracy Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5EU4GRudvc
1:32 - 1:42 (customer reaction to the crowd breaking down the door)
DUISBURG
Official Documentary of the Loveparade 2010 Disaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y73-7lFBNE
5:36 - 5:53 (explanation of why it happened)
Loveparade Teil 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxd_KlaCiNY&NR=1&feature=endscreen
1:19 - 1:24 (crowd swaying as cops push fence barriers)
PHNOM PENH
(November 22, 2010) - The 2010 Khmer Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 353 dead, 755 injured. Plenty of blame to go around. But what really sparked the panic? Was it police firing a water cannon? Were there accidental electrocutions? Did festival goers pass out from exhaustion? Or was it just simply a matter of overcrowding?
Shocking video of Cambodia stampede, hundreds killed on bridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjn97sqPRsQ
:53 - :56 (group of people crushed against the railing)
1:31 - 1:42 (additional footage of people in the crush)
1:18 - 1:26 (up close imagery of young girls)
2:18 - 2:33 (dead bodies)
2:46 -2:51 (clothing, belongings left on the bridge)
PORT SAID
Egypt Football Violence - It's the biggest disaster in Egypt's football
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqLPnmmUdAE
:12 - :20
2:35 - 2:45
(February 1, 2012) Last year. Port Said soccer stadium, Port Said, Egypt. 79 killed, more than 1,000 injured. The media claimed it was part of the Arab Spring. Just part of the Egyptian political upheaval. But in reality, many died while trying to exit the stadium. In many cases, the stampede WAS the violence.
IVORY COAST
Dozens dead in Ivory Coast stampede
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjT6IRov0Hk
0:00 - :19 (intro of fireworks and stampede)
1:02 - 1:11 (this is not the first time a stampede has happened at this stadium)
dozens dead in New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmtUkRcYMx8
:54 - 1:05 (tree trunk explanation)
Some speculate that wooden barricades and tree trunks were purposely placed to create congestion so pick pockets could steal wallets and cell phones.
Dozens dead in Ivory Coast New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLGOZKe0UT0
:19 - :28 (President hoping for an investigation so there's no repeat)
Once again, the casualty figures grow stale.
The point is... human stampedes happen for a wide variety of reasons.. Anywhere... Anytime... To assume that the United States is somehow exempt from this well-known, worldwide phenomenon is not a sound strategy. But it's understandable. It's difficult for the government to address every potential problem. And it's even harder when the problem is a hypothetical because risk management has never been an exact science.
As the global population continues to escalate, human stampedes will always be a part of the mix. You can't wave a magic wand and implement a policy that completely makes everyone safe. Because large crowds + panic = disaster. Because regardless of whether people are willing to admit it or deny it, we share genetically ingrained "herding instincts" with other life forms. And when human beings fear for their lives, the vast majority will run for their lives.
(Google earth ticket stub intro)
CALUMET
But there was one stampede that truly changed "the way of things."
(December 24, 1913) The Italian Fire Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. 73 fatalities, mostly children. Nobody really knows exactly what happened, but it's been pretty much accepted that someone shouted "fire in a crowded theater." This time though... society got involved. The United States Supreme Court entered the fray and placed reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech.
So what made this one so bad? There wasn't a fire.
It was all just one big lie. And sometimes when people lie, people die.
Roughly a century later, instead of shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater, I wondered what would happen if someone texted 'bomb' in a crowded stadium.
On March 1, 2012, following the Department of Homeland Security's "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign, I sent a letter posing that question to Janet Napolitano. Unfortunately, she never got back to me. (Maybe they lacked the financial resources. I do not know). However, many others did respond.
My name is Eric Saferstein. I'm from Wheeling, West Virginia and this my story.
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