stampede

A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd) collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose. Stampedes are believed^{[citation needed]} to originate from biological responses in the brains and endocrine systems of herd animals. The response is believed to have evolved to help animals escape predators.

A large stampede will frequently eliminate anything in its path. With farmed animals, cowboys attempt to turn the moving herd into itself, so that it runs in circles rather than self-destructing by running over a cliff or into a river, or from damaging human life or property by overrunning human settlements.

Associated with stampede behaviour are humans and specific animals like cattle, elephants, Blue Wildebeests, and wild horses.

Human stampedes

Human stampedes most often occur during religious pilgrimages, professional sporting and music events. They also often occur in times of mass panic, as a result of a fire or explosion, as people try to get away.

Causes

Deaths from human stampedes occur primarily from compressive asphyxiation, not trampling: "Virtually all crowd deaths are due to compressive asphyxia and not the "trampling" reported by the news media.";^[1] this is referred to as crowd crush.^[2] This force occurs both from horizontal pushing, and from vertical stacking.

Examples

The annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is attended by millions of pilgrims, has increasingly suffered from stampedes, even as authorities have constructed new walkways and instituted other traffic controls to prevent them.

In India, stampedes occur regularly during Hindu religious holidays. Called "temple crushes" by the local press, they are often caused by railings giving way as pilgrims climb steep hills to reach a temple.^[3]

The worst stampede in recorded history took place in Chongqing, China, during World War II. Japanese bombing of the city on June 6, 1941, triggered mass panic at an air raid shelter, killing approximately 4,000 people, most of them by suffocation.

A popularly quoted cause of stampedes is "Shouting fire in a crowded theater", which has occurred in such instances as the Barnsley Public Hall Disaster and the Italian Hall disaster.

Prevention

"Most major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies. The primary crowd management objectives are the avoidance of critical crowd densities and the triggering of rapid group movement."^[1]

Human stampedes can be prevented by organization and traffic control, such as barriers. A key problem is lack of feedback from people being crushed to the crowd pressing behind – feedback can instead be provided by police, organizers, or other observers, particularly raised observers, such as on platforms or horseback, who can survey the crowd, and use loudspeakers to communicate and direct a crowd.^[2]

At the individual level, warning signs of a crowd crush include density of more than four people per square meter – roughly, being touched on four sides. To avoid or escape from a crowd crush, one is advised to move sideways, particularly between swells.^[2]

List of human stampedes

The inclusion or exclusion of items from this list, or length of this list, is disputed. Please discuss this issue on the talk page.

19th century

• 10 October 1872: 19 women and children were killed in a stampede and resulting stairs collapse in a synagogue in Ostrów Wielkopolski during the fast of Yom Kippur. Failure of gas lighting engulfed a synagogue balcony (apparently, the women's gallery) in darkness, causing panic among the women.
• December 5, 1876: Crushes on gallery and balcony staircases during the Brooklyn Theater Fire delayed the evacuation of the building, a contributing factor in the deaths of at least 278 individuals.^[4]
• May 30, 1883: 12 people were killed and dozens injured after a woman tripped on the stairway at the Brooklyn Bridge, which had been open for eight days at the time. The crush was exacerbated by fears the bridge was about to collapse. [4]
• June 16, 1883: Over 180 out of 1,100 children died in the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England when they stampeded down the stairs to collect gifts from the entertainers after the end of a variety show.
• May 18, 1896: 1,389 people were killed and 1,300 injured in the Khodynka Tragedy, a crush of those desiring to get presents during the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

20th century

• January 11, 1908: 16 children were killed in the Barnsley Public Hall Disaster in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, when someone in the hall shouted 'Fire!'
• December 24, 1913: 73 people were crushed to death in the Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. This event is considered the legal source for the often-cited First Amendment limitation of "shouting fire in a crowded theater."
• March 3, 1943: Bethnal Green 173 people were killed as people tried to get into an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green underground station, east London. Anti-aircraft fire reportedly frightened the crowd, causing them to run for the shelter. When a woman carrying a baby tripped on the stairs, others fell over her, triggering the crush.^[5]
• January 1, 1956: 124 people were killed during the New Year panic and stampede at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan.
• January 2, 1971: 66 people were killed in the Second Ibrox Disaster, when the collapse of stairway barriers led to a crush as fans were leaving the stadium.
• December 3, 1979: 11 people were killed during a crush at a The Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. The incident led to a reduced use of festival seating at US venues. The event was later referenced on an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.
• October 20, 1982: at least 66 people were killed in the Luzhniki disaster
• May 29, 1985: 39 people were killed in the Heysel Stadium disaster
• April 15, 1989: 96 people were killed in the Hillsborough Disaster at a football stadium in Sheffield, England.
• January 13, 1991: At least 40 people were killed at a football match in Orkney, South Africa.
• February 13, 1991: 42 people were killed, 55 injured in Mexican Chalma sanctuary after being overwhelmed by a crowd trying to enter the temple to receive the signal from the ashes.
• January 1, 1993: 21 people were killed and 48 injured as a huge crowd celebrated the New Year's Day at Lan Kwai Fong of Hong Kong.^[6]
• October 30, 1993: 73 student fans injured, six critically, by a crowd crush shortly after a football game at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Camp Randall Stadium.
• May 1994: 270 people were killed at Jamarat Bridge in Mecca during the stoning of the Devil.
• 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.
• March, 1998: 70 people were killed when fans at Nepal's national football stadium stampede for the exits during a hailstorm.
• April 1998: 119 people were killed at the Hajj in Mecca.
• May 30, 1999: Niamiha disaster: 53 people died in a stampede at the Nemiga metro station in Minsk, Belarus.

21st century

• April 11, 2001: 43 people were crushed in the Ellis Park Stadium disaster in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• May 2001: 126 killed at a football match in Accra, Ghana after police fire tear gas at rioters.
• December 21, 2001: 7 children, 10 to 14 years of age, were crushed to death due to a stampede on the stairway, leading to the entrance of a nightclub in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• February 17, 2003: 21 people were killed in the stairway exit to E2, a nightclub in Chicago, after a pepper spray use on an upper-story dance floor.
• February 20, 2003: 100 killed in The Station nightclub fire, many of them trampled.
• February 2004: 251 people were killed at Jamarat Bridge in Mecca during the stoning of the devil.
• September 1, 2004: Three die in Saudi shop stampede.^[7]
• January 2005: 265 people were killed as Hindu pilgrims stampede near a remote temple in Maharashtra, India.
• August 31, 2005: 1000 people were killed in a Baghdad bridge stampede
• December 2005: 42 people were killed as flood relief supplies were handed out to homeless refugees in southern India.
• January 12, 2006: 345 killed at Jamarat Bridge in Mecca during the stoning of the devil.
• February 4, 2006: 74 people were killed in the PhilSports Arena stampede in the Philippines. The place was the location of the first year anniversary of ABS-CBN's Wowowee.
• September 12, 2006: Fifty-one killed and more than 200 injured at a stampede in Ibb Governorate, Yemen.^[8][9]
• June 2, 2007: 12 people were killed during a stampede at the end of a football game between Zambia and Republic of Congo in Chililabombwe, Zambia.^[10]
• October 3, 2007: At least 14 women were crushed to death at a train station in northern India.^[11]
• November 11, 2007: 3 people were killed and more than 30 injured at the Supermarket Carrefour in Chongqing, China when the shop was offering 20% discounts on cooking oil.^[12]
• March 27, 2008: 8 people were killed and 10 injured at an Indian temple crush during a pilgrimage.^[13]
• June 20, 2008: At least 12 people were killed and 13 injured at a Mexico City nightclub stampede during a police raid.^[14]
• July 13, 2008: 23 people died in the al-Mureikh stadium stampede disaster, during a graduation ceremony at Omdurman, Sudan.
• August 3, 2008: At least 162 people were killed and 47 injured in a stampede at the Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh in mountainous northern India after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide.
• September 14, 2008: At least 11 people were killed when a riot was dispersed by tear gas during a football match in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• September 30, 2008: 147 people were killed during the Chamunda Devi stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, India. The tragedy may have been triggered by a rumor that a bomb was planted in the temple complex.^[15] Local authorities, however, blamed steep, slippery slopes leading to the temple.^[3][16]
• October 2, 2008: About 20 children died in a stampede in an overcrowded children's dance hall in Tanzania.[5]
• November 28, 2008: Jdimytai Damour died and at least four were injured when a stampede of shoppers broke down the door of a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, just before the store opened for its Black Friday sales. [6]
• March 29, 2009: The Houphouët-Boigny Arena stampede. 19 people killed and 130 injured in a stampede at a football stadium in Ivory Coast as fans try to squeeze into the stadium for a World Cup qualifier.[7]

See also

• Incidents during the Hajj
• List of accidents and disasters by death toll

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Fruin, John. The Causes and Prevention of Crowd Disasters. www.crowddynamics.com. URL last accessed March 3, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c} How Not To Get Trampled at the Inauguration: Don't go with the flow. By Amanda Ripley, Slate.com Monday, Jan. 19, 2009
3. ^ ^{a b} Rhys Blakely (September 30, 2008). "India temple stampede kills 110". The Times of London. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4851062.ece. Retrieved 2008-09-30. "Temple crushes are common in India." 
4. ^ 'The Class of People who Go To The Gallery' "Special Report of the Fire Marshall" in Papers Relating to the Burning Down of the Brooklyn Theatre British House of Commons London: 1877. page 15
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ [2] (In Chinese (traditional))
7. ^ [3]
8. ^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Deadly stampede at Yemeni rally
9. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6075746,00.html
10. ^ At least 12 people were crushed to death in Zambia after an African Cup qualifier win over Republic of Congo - International Herald Tribune
11. ^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | Women die in India train stampede
12. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Three die in China sale stampede
13. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | India temple stampede kills eight
14. ^ Mexico City nightclubbers stampede during police raid; at least 12 dead - L.A. Times
15. ^ "Yoll rises in Chamunda Devi stampede; 80 dead". September 30, 2008. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/toll-rises-in-chamunda-devi-stampede-80-dead/74652-3.html. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 
16. ^ "177 feared dead in temple stampede in Jodhpur". Times of India. September 30, 2008. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/177_feared_dead_in_Jodhpur_temple_stampede/articleshow/3543100.cms. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 

External links

• World's worst stampedes - China Daily