11 Trampled to Death at Korean Pop Music Concert

Eleven people were killed and 30 injured when a stampede of people charged the front gate of the Sangju Citizen’s Sports Arena for a MBC pop music concert:

Witnesses said thousands rushed to enter the venue when the gates opened, with people at the front of the queue being trampled underfoot by the impatient press of bodies behind them. “They were pinned down and trampled on; it was terrible,” a witness said.

Reports from the scene said more than 10,000 people gathered to attend the show, with some 5,000 people thronging the gate where the stampede happened. The show was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. as part of the third Sangju Bicycle Festival, which opened last Saturday.

It is a little surprising that this happened in Sangju of all places. I have traveled to Sangju before and found the place to be a quiet city with some really nice nearby mountain scenery. Not the first place that comes to mind for a tragedy like this to occur.