It’s estimated that over 60 people have been injured, 19 of them seriously, during ‘an incident’ at Falls Festival in Lorne overnight.
The event unfolded around 11pm local time, when some of the crowd leaving the Grand Theatre after the DMAs set slipped and fell on a steep embankment. The crowd behind, unaware of the problem ahead, continued to push through to get to London Grammar’s set at another stage, causing a stampede-like event.
Thirteen women and six men aged from their late teens to late 20s were taken to hospital with serious injuries, including possible spinal injuries; head and facial injuries; leg, rib, hip and pelvic fractures, as well as cuts and bruises.
Festival-goer Lucy Spry posted on the Falls Facebook site that it began when someone slipped on gravel.
“Someone slipped on the gravel or fell not too sure but it was too step and such a small exit with thousands and thousands of people pushing no crowd control insight then once they went down they didn’t get up quick enough so we all started piling on top of them as the crowd just did not stop pushing but they couldn’t see what was going on or here us all absolutely screaming to stop pushing so it ended up in hundreds of kids getting absolutely crushed!”
Another patron’s mother posted on Facebook as ‘Lpu Jani’, said: “My daughter pulled a young person from the crush who was unconscious and had stopped breathing and didn’t get ambulance crew or medic response for five minutes. Shoes were torn off, phones crushed and bones broken let’s be serious this is a traumatic event for the patrons. Security were not on hand and the patrons screamed for their lives!!!”
All subsequent performances on the Grand Theatre stage were cancelled last night. Scheduling was expected to return to normal today.
Due to limited mobile phone service at large-scale events, concerned friends and family should contact the festival via email at patroninfo@fallsfestival.com to find out the welfare of loved ones.
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