Fifteen Killed in German Stampede

Fifteen people died for techno music in a mass trampling in Germany on Saturday.

According to the Associated Press, panicked would-be revelers began stampeding when police began barring the entrance to the country’s famed "Love Parade" in Duisberg, citing overcrowding concerns. Several hundred thousand people were already thronging the area. Police commissioner Juergen Kieskemper called the event “very chaotic.”

The victims, and dozens more injured in the trampling, were trapped in a tunnel and emergency workers had difficulty reaching them, the AP reported. The tunnel itself was about three-tenths of a mile long.

About 1.4 million people showed up at the festival. The Guardian reported nine men and six women were killed. Another 10 people, however, required resuscitation and about 100 injuries were reported.

To avoid the risk of further panic, the festival itself was not stopped and revelers on the opposite end of the area were not informed of the tragedy, police said.

The stampede began about 5 p.m. and appeared to have been triggered by police announcements, via loudspeaker, asking incoming partygoers to leave the area because it was too full, police said.