Asake’s London Concert Venue Crush Left 4 People Critically Injured

(CTN NEWS) – LONDON – Four people were hospitalized in critical condition on Friday after hundreds of people forced their way into a London concert venue during the performance of Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake. 

The O2 Brixton Academy was overwhelmed with a crowd, resulting in eight people being taken to hospitals. Two other injured people at the scene were treated.

The police were called Thursday night after a “large crowd” attempted to enter the concert hall without tickets. Video footage captured by bystanders shows hundreds rushing into the concert hall without tickets.

Four people were critically injured in this rush.

A promoter went on stage to tell the audience that people had “broached the doors” of the concert.

Police officers at the scene outside Brixton O2 Academy where they are investigating the circumstances which led to four people sustaining critical injuries in an apparent crush as a large crowd tried to force their way into the south London concert venue.
JAMES MANNING/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES

Officers, ambulance crews, and firefighters arrived to find “several people with crushing injuries.”

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, remarked, “It crushes my heart that this could happen to Londoners.”

“I won’t rest till our nearest and dearest get the truth they deserve,” he wrote in a social media post.

The police force will thoroughly investigate what happened and how officers responded. In one piece of footage, an officer appears to push a woman down a few stairs at the venue entrance.

The Metropolitan Police Gold Commander Ade Adelekan said officers who used force “know they have to answer for their actions.” He said body-worn video footage would be examined in the investigation.

It is an extremely upsetting incident that has left four people critically ill in hospitals. They and their families are in my thoughts and prayers,” he said.

To establish exactly what happened last night, a police investigation has been launched, and it will be as thorough and forensic as possible.”

The scene outside Brixton O2 Academy where police are investigating the circumstances which led to four people sustaining critical injuries in an apparent crash as a large crowd tried to force their way into the south London concert venue, Friday Dec. 16, 2022. (Kirsty O’Connor/PA via AP)

Specialized officers will examine the scene and CCTV, but Adelekan urged anyone with information to come forward.

Social media and tabloid newspaper websites posted videos showing crowds pushed up against the doors of the 02 Academy, as well as violent scuffles in the foyer.

Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, a policing watchdog, will review all material, including body-worn video footage.

One of the most famous music venues in London is Brixton Academy. It has a capacity of just under 5,000 and was built in the 1920s as a movie theater.

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