DUISBURG, Germany – The death toll rose to 19 on Sunday and police said that 342 had been injured in a panicked crush of partygoers in an overcrowded tunnel that served as the sole entrance to a German festival billed as the world's largest techno music party.
The founder of the Love Parade said it would never be held again.
"The Love Parade was always a peaceful event and a happy party" but would forever be overshadowed by the tragedy, Rainer Schaller said.
"It's over for the Love Parade," he said.
He spoke at a press conference where authorities faced tough questions, but provided few details, about why hundreds of thousands of people were funneled through a single highway underpass into the former freight railway station used to host the party.
German media reported that there were at least 1.4 million people but police did not confirm that estimate.
Detlef von Schmeling, the police chief in Duisburg, said that 16 of the 19 people killed have been identified so far. He said they include an Australian, an Italian, a Chinese citizen and a person from Holland.
Von Schmeling said their ages ranged from just over 20 to 40.
Witnesses said officers in Duisburg, a city near Duesseldorf in western Germany, closed the end of the tunnel emptying onto the festival grounds after they become overcrowded around 5 p.m. They told revelers over loudspeakers to turn around and walk back in the other direction. But the entrance to the tunnel did not appear to have been closed and people continued piling in, sparking a panic and then a deadly crush.
Witnesses described a desperate scene, as people piled up on each other or scrambled over others who had fallen.
Partygoer Udo Sandhoefer told n-tv television that even though no one else was being let in, people still streamed into the tunnel, causing "a real mass panic."
"At some point the column (of people) got stuck, probably because everything was closed up front, and we saw that the first people were already lying on the ground," he said.
City officials chose not to evacuate the site, fearing it might spark more panic, and many people continued partying, unaware of the deaths.Rescue workers carried away the injured as techno music thundered in the background.
Other workers had trouble getting to the victims, hampered by the huge crowds. Local media reported that the cell phone system in Duisburg broke down temporarily and frantic parents trying to reach their children instead drove to the scene to look for them.
However, most streets downtown were blocked by police and the highways leading to the city were jammed. Several media outlets also reported that rescue helicopters had problems taking away the heavily injured because there was not enough space for them to land.
The founder of the Love Parade, Matthias Roeingh, known by the name Dr. Motte, blasted the planning for the event, saying "one single entrance through a tunnel lends itself to disaster. I am very sad."
German authorities also have not identified the victims yet, but the Dutch Foreign Ministry said that a 22-year-old Dutch man was among then.
German leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, voiced shock that an event meant to celebrate youth, peace and love could turn so deadly.
"The young people came to celebrate and instead there are dead and injured," Merkel said Saturday. "I am horrified by the suffering and the pain."
It was the worst accident of its kind since nine people were crushed to death and 43 more were injured at a rock festival in Roskilde, Denmark, in 2000. That fatal accident occurred when a huge crowd pushed forward during a Pearl Jam gig.
The Love Parade, where people from across Europe gather to dance, watch floats and listen to DJs spin, was once an institution in Berlin, but has been held in the industrial Ruhr region of western Germany since 2007.
The original Berlin Love Parade grew from a 1989 peace demonstration into a huge outdoor celebration of club culture that drew about 1.5 million people at its peak in 1999. But it suffered from financial problems and tensions with city officials in later years, and eventually moved.
The website of the Love Parade — whose motto this year was "The Art of Love — went black on Saturday night, with words in white saying:
"Our wish to arrange a happy togetherness was overshadowed by the tragic accidents today. ... Our sincere condolences to all the relatives and our thoughts are with all of those who are currently being taken care of."
_source:___yahoo news
About Me
- Kenneth Onojeta
- A young man of modesty and love, who believed "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool".
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Almost invisible mirrored tree house built in Sweden
They said it couldn't be done. When we first wrote about the almost invisible tree house to be built in Sweden by Tham & Videgard, 899 commenters thought it was computer-generated eye candy, impossible to build, and death for birds.
But the architects built it, one of six units in a "Treehotel," which recently opened 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.
The four-meter glass cube looks as spectacular in reality as it did in the rendering. Kent Lindvall, co-owner of the TreeHotel, has been quoted as saying:
Everything will reflect in this -- the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest.
The units are constructed from sustainably harvested wood and have electric radiant floor heating and "a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, incineration toilet"
(Although I've owned an incinerating toilet, and it wasn't that eco-friendly. It used a lot of electricity and created noise and some smells. But perhaps they've improved.)
But other than that minor quibble, this appears to be a truly "eco" resort. The owners say in Designboom:
"This is untouched forest, and we want to maintain it the same way. We decided, for example, to not offer snowmobile safari which is very common up here," says Selberg. Instead, wilderness walks will be offered.
Source: yahoo Green
Saturday, July 24, 2010
France coach Blanc drops all 23 World Cup players
—France coach Laurent Blanc will drop all 23 World Cup players for his first match next month as collective punishment for the team’s embarrassing fiasco in South Africa.
The French federation said Friday in a statement it had granted Blanc permission to suspend the players at the coach’s request.
France was eliminated in the group stage at the World Cup, failing to win a game. The players also refused to train as a protest after Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home following an expletive-laced tirade at then-coach Raymond Domenech.
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Blanc refused to speak to reporters when he left the federation’s headquarters Friday.
France plays a friendly against Norway on Aug. 11 in Oslo, and Blanc is set to announce his squad Aug. 5.
France’s disappointing performance in South Africa came after the team failed to win a game at the 2008 European Championship, also under Domenech.
The French team endured days of chaos at the World Cup after L’Equipe newspaper published a rant by Anelka aimed toward Domenech at halftime of a 2-0 loss against Mexico, prompting the French federation to send him home.
The next day, the entire squad refused to train in protest and captain Patrice Evra had a lively altercation with the team’s fitness coach that was captured on TV.
The events caused an outcry in France, with politicians harshly criticizing the players’ attitude, legislators in parliament questioning the coach and even President Nicolas Sarkozy weighing in on the mess.
Earlier Friday, France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris criticized the squad for being “totally stupid” for going on strike and said he is desperate to “restore the image” that was so badly damaged in South Africa.
“Going on strike was the decision of a group that felt isolated, that felt no one had protected it, and that wanted to get a message across,” Lloris said in an interview with L’Equipe. “We went way too far. It was a clumsy decision, a big mistake. It was totally stupid.”
Lloris, who has 14 international appearances and is expected to stay the No. 1 goalkeeper, accepts the players have an obligation “to make sure what happened in South Africa never happens again, that we don’t self-destruct in that way ever again.”
“We acted more like a team in the bus than on the pitch,” the 23-year-old Lloris said.
“We all want to restore the image of Les Bleus. I’m not asking for us to win everything, just that we all make an effort, that we give everything,” he added. “We need to get back to basics, respect for the jersey, for ourselves, our teammates and the institution that is the France team.”
Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes handed in his resignation earlier this month and the federal council unanimously appointed Fernand Duchaussoy as caretaker president Friday.
Duchaussoy said earlier this week it would be difficult for Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema to play for France after both players were issued the preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in a sex scandal with an underage prostitute.
Duchaussoy moderated his position Friday, saying any decision would have to be made in accordance with Blanc’s views on the matter, and that sometimes decisions must be made that go “against one’s personal convictions.”
Source: Yahoo Sport
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Ghana team to be honored by government
ACCRA, Ghana (AP)—Ghana’s World Cup players will be given national honors and $20,000 each after reaching the quarterfinals in South Africa.
“You deserved to be honored because you have made Ghana and indeed Africa proud by your performance,” Mills said Tuesday in announcing the accolades at a lunch for the team. The Black Stars were greeted by cheering fans when they returned to Accra on Monday night.
Ghana was adopted as Africa’s team during its run to the final eight of the tournament. The squad came close to being the first team from the continent to make the semifinals; they were knocked out in a penalty shootout by Uruguay in the quarters. The other five African teams all failed to qualify for the second round.
“You did not win the World Cup but, through your performance, you carried high the flags of not only Ghana but Africa,” Mills said.
As well as the cash bonus for the players, a government official said members of the coaching team would receive a reward of $10,000 each.
Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, who is from Ghana, wrote in a letter to the team that he was one of millions left “heartbroken” after the Uruguay loss.
Ghana was denied victory when a blatant hand ball prevented a goal in the final seconds of extra time. Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty kick, forcing the shootout.
“You won because you brought us all together,” Annan’s letter said. “The lasting trophy to take away from the tournament is this incredible moment of unity.”
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Maradona in post-match altercation with German fans
Immediately after Argentina's 4-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany on Saturday, Maradona was understandably upset. And according to Argentina's Diarios y Noticias, he let a group of German fans know it. A translation of their report:
Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona had an altercation with German fans after the end of the match that marked the elimination of said team from the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
Apparently upset over post game celebrations by fans located behind the Argentinean bench, Maradona approached and scolded them, until Dalma, one of his daughters, entered the field and contained him.
It's a shame the man who has entertained us all over the last few weeks with his exuberance and delightful antics had to get involved in something like this. He would go on to say that this loss was "the most disappointing moment in my life" which shows just how devastated he must have been as he walked off the pitch and saw German fans in red and yellow wigs partying like it's Oktoberfest in July right behind him. A sad end for the most interesting man of the tournament. Or anywhere else.
Source: Yahoo news
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