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Breaking News
Love Parade Documentary
This attempts to answer how the disaster occurred on July 24th.
'The Love Parade was danced to death ... In the middle of a celebration of lust for life, death showed its ugly face to all of us.'
Nikolaus Schneider, Leader of the Evangelical Church in Rhineland.
21 lives in 1 day
1st August 1300 GMT
Yesterdays ceremony remembered the loveparade victims all of which were aged between 18 and 38 including 14 Germans, others from Spain, China, Australia, the Netherlands, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy. Rescue workers from the parade lit a candle for each of the victims. Also mentioned were the 500 injured, 25 of whom are still in hospital. Following the ceremony and estimated 5,000 people marched from Duisburg to the tunnel where the love parade catastrophe occurred.
Across Germany flags flew at half mast and bells were sounded in neighbouring Rhineland towns. For one day hate and scapegoating was put aside to remember the victims of last Saturdays tragedy.
Death Threats
Mayor Sauerland did not attend Saturdays mass ceremony. He has been under fire daily since the incident with a street protest of 250 people on Thursday calling for his resignation and death threats daily. The Mayor has not resigned and is under police protection. The event organiser Rainer Schaller also did not appear at the ceremony.
Police investigations continue.
31th July 1755 GMT
A memorial service will be held today for the 21 people who died at loveparade last Saturday. The catalyst of the problem was the overcrowding in the 100 metre long and 16 metre wide tunnel after which local police closed the grounds.
The tunnel rapidly became stuffed up and hot with thousands of people inside. Panic spread like wildfire as people collapsed. Some tried to escape via a ladder but fell nine metres as they tried to escape. 10 people were resuscitated there and then. Medical staff on the scene said that the 15 people who died at the festival died from asphyxiation and back injuries. 6 more people would die in hospital.
Despite safety experts, fire officers and police warnings the festival went ahead on the insufficient 230,000 square metres (considering at least 1 million people would attend) and 21 people suffered the consequences.
30th July 1755 GMT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to attend tomorrow's funeral for the victims of last Saturday's incident. It will be an Ecumenical church service, accompanied by a live screening at the Duisburg football stadium for up to 25,000 people. 550 places are reserved at Duisburg's main Protestant Church 'Salvatorkirche' for relatives of the dead as well as the injured.
Sauerland has enjoyed popularity in Duisburg prior to the loveparade however this has plumetted since the disaster that was loveparade. Members from his political party the CDU (Christian Democrat Party) have suggested he should resign. However Sauerland claims that he did not sign any official permission for the event and so is not directly to blame for the incidents.
Love Parade Tunnel
On Wednesday an initial police report put the blame on the private organiser of the event saying that agreed security measures had not been implemented.
In an interview with www.bild.de the organiser of the loveparade Rainer Schaller confirmed that the company has 'a liability insurance of over €7.5 million'. He also said that the company will analyse the causes and question the 2,000 members of staff. Schaller has also announced that the festival will not take place again.
Axa insurance granted an advance of €1 million as emergency aid for the victims of the event, Schaller has also contributed to this aid.
29th July 1400 GMT
Prosecutors, in the early stages of investigation are looking at the organizers for a litany of safety flaws resulting in the loveparade tragedy.
According to the State Chief of Police, Dieter Wehe, the blame for the chain of mistakes by which 500 people were injured rests with the organizers. Initial mistakes were cited as:
1. The opening of the grounds 2 hours before earlier than expected leading to a block in the tunnel. Police found it difficult to control the crowds because of this early start.
2.There were fewer stewards than promised on the day.
3. stewards did not react to an order to close the access points to stop the influx of people.
4. A lack of loud speakers around the tunnel area made it very difficult for police to vocally combat the magnitude of the music and crowds.
Regarding the people who died on the 24th July it seems that as people tried to escape via a concrete set of steps, many were crushed against the railings and steps. This is the area where many people died. Fencing and debris on the ground caused people to trip up, resulting in a pile-on of people. The cause of death on the day was suffocation.
The Interior Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia said' I find it outrageous that the organizers and the city of Duisburg have absolved themselves of responsibility before all the facts are known'.
Mayor of Duisburg Adolf Sauerland who gave the festival the go-ahead has received calls for his resignation but he has refused. Sauerland has also received death threats.
News 28th July 1130 GMT
A 25 year old German woman has just died as a result of her injuries in hospital.
The deceased also include 12 other Germans, the rest are from China, Australia, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Bosnia Herzegovina. 15 people died at the scene of the parade while 6 people died later from injuries sustained at the parade.
NEWS 27th July 2010 19:00 GMT
A 21 one year old girl from Germany passed away in hospital yesterday as a result of injuries sustained in Duisburg on Saturday. This is the 20th person who has died as a result of the Loveparade 2010.
Despite the international involvement of what happened at loveparade, the official website currently features a message in German only providing people with details for Catholic & Evangelist churches.
According to the Cologne based newsgroup Stadt-Anzeiger the head of Duisburg's fire brigade contacted Mayor Adolf Sauerland in October 2009 to say that the loveparade venue, a disused railway freight grounds, were 'physically not suitable'.
An estimated 1.4 million people attended the festival but according to the Spiegel magazine the festival only had authorisation for 250,000 revellers.
NEWS 26th July 2010
The investigation into the 20 deaths is looking at 'negligent manslaughter' and 'negligent bodily harm'. No-one has been accused yet. The following are rumours
1. The Mayor had been warned by the Chief Fire Officer in advance that the area was not suitable for the expected crowd.
2. Local police and/or a private security company sealed one end of the tunnel when the grounds became too full
3. The Duisburg Council and/or the festival organisers should have not have allowed the event to take place at the location.
4. The police warned of the risk involved with staging the festival but were ignored.
NEWS 25th July 2010
19 people lost their lives due to the consequences of overcrowding in a tunnel at Love Parade 2010. These people went to Duisburg to enjoy the music but tragically lost their lives. We are devastated and there can be no justification for this sad day.
What follows is our article before the loveparade disaster in Duisburg.
The motto for the 2010 Parade is
'The Art of Love'
No ! You're not on the wrong page the music festival was originally called the Berlin Loveparade but Berlin won't play it anymore so it has been scheduled for 5 cities for the years 2007-2011. The 2011 festival will be Gelsenkirchen in Germany.
Love Parade hotels in Duisburg
Entrance to the Love Parade 2010 in Duisburg will be free. World class djs will play, you will dance and everyone will be of a liberal mind for at least one day. The techno dance festival will take place at Duisburg's main train station, named Duisburgs freedom.
Can't make it to Duisburg ?
If you are stubborn about dancing in Berlin there is the B Parade which is probably on July 9th/10th. There is also the Fu€kparade. This is more of a protest than a parade however it is on the street and it did introduce the Techno Viking to the world (search him on youtube). It is a protest against moving the parade from its original location and also the commercialism of the parade by sponsors.
DJ Line-Up for Pioneers Love Stage
15:00 - 19:30 Plastik Funk Boris Dlugosch Tom Novy Dubpistols DJ set Moonbootica
19:30 - 23:15 Felix Kröcher Alex Bau Luke Slater Guy Gerber
20:00-23:00 Mark Knight Mathew Jonson Boys Noize Electronic Orchestral by Guido Schneider & Mark disc Fedde Le Grand Anthony Rother Westbam Booka Shade
Clock 23:00 - End Pan-Pot David Guetta
Finale
Line-Up for the 1 Live Float
Moguai Phil Fuldner Mike Litt DJ Lars Jan-Christian Zeller Tom Breu
DJ Line-Up for the Sunshine Live Float
DJ Klubbingman DJ Falk and other Special Guests
Raveline/Reloop/Housekeeper Float
Tom Novy ATB Boogie Pimps Da Hool (Bottrop) Eric Sneo Jean Elan Josh Gallahan Raveline Allstars
Nature One & Syndicate Float
Felix Kröcher Charlie Lownoise & Mental Theo Sven Wittekind (Frankfurt) Alex MORPH b2b Woody van Eyden Arkus P.-live- BMG aka Brute-live-music designer Re-Style (NL) Dyprax
Virtualnights.com & Beatport.com Float
Fedde Le Grand Mark Knight Patric La Funk Nicky Romero
Sensation Float
Gregor Wagner Dave Curtis Rachid Binh
Pulse Radio Float
Andrew Grant Emerson Todd Dana Ruh Little Fritter Nick McMartin Jimmy Posters
Brasil Float
Vitor Lima Jollans Pier Luigi Tambortech Mari Di Iorio Twisted Mind Live Otto Roberto Vs. Pimpo Gama
Smag Float
Ante Perry Plastic Funk Capilari & Salvavida feat live vocals by Jona Davis Since Mario Ragnio Sebastian Phillip Man At Arms Chime biography Screaming Disco Dj Fishi
Cuscus Float
Arado Juliet Sikora Nakadia Flow & Zoe Jackus & Santucci Marcus Sur Paul Pysik Chris Count Mr. Lenz man Claas Tiwa
Ultrasound Club meets 100 Float
Eric Smax Dan vegas Fishi Dr. H
Gastenzondergrenzen Float
Robert Powlson Victor Coral De Man Zonder Schaduw Miss Melera Juliet Sikora
Ship of Fools Float
Boycott BP Benny Hill Kluk Kluk DJ Marty Feldman
Dar Label Float
Pig & Dan Denis A Egor Boss Nikitin Spartaque Abell & Beekeeper
Tunnel Float
DJ Dean DJ Yanny Gary D. Deejane Kim Patrick Bunton Chris Deelay
Getting to Duisburg
by plane Düsseldorf International Airport is the closest with access via the A 59 or A 3 with connection to A 52 from Kreuz Breitscheid, as well as the B 8.
by car Accessible on 5 motorways: Motorways A57, A59 and A3 cross the city on the North-South axis; the A40 and A42 on the West-East axis.
by bus Although we could not find an English version, see the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft website http://www.dvg.dvv.de/
by train Both national and international rail connections and the Düsseldorf-Duisburg line intersect at Duisburg.
Parade Directions
Its best for all to arrive to Duisburg by train. The heart is where you will find the love and the best djs in the world.
The Blue green arrows on the map show the route for people arriving from Oberhausen and Essen direction.
The yellow and red arrows show the rave route for people arriving from Düsseldorf or Krefeld.
Random Facts Duisburg is on the Western Ruhr- it's Germany's 12th largest city, with just under half a million residents and it is home to the world's largest inland harbour.