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@INPROCEEDINGS{Sieben:1017210,
author = {Sieben, Anna and Seyfried, Armin},
title = {{R}econstruction of the {L}oveparade disaster from the
perspective of visitors. {A}nalysis of witness statements},
reportid = {FZJ-2023-04021},
year = {2023},
abstract = {In the Loveparade disaster in 2010 a very dense crowd
situation appeared in which 21 visitors of the dance
festival were killed, and several hundred injured. This
paper presents an analysis of a random selection of 136
witness statements of visitors who had been within this
life-threatening crowd. It combines perspectives from
psychology and physics. In addition to analyses of the
complex, multifactorial overall situation that led to the
disaster [1] or of the dynamics of the crowd from above on
the basis of CCTV footage [2] this study approaches the
dynamics from within, from the perspective of visitors. They
had been interviewed by police officers in the hours, day,
or weeks after the disaster. This material can now be
analyzed scientifically after the judicial process ended in
2020 without a verdict. Eyewitnesses describe how they
perceived the situation, how they (and others) behaved and
what they experienced. Furthermore, they can provide
information about what collective dynamics there were in the
crowd and how they affected their bodies.Psychologically,
the situation is characterized on the one hand by a strongly
limited perception (only the backs of the direct neighbors
are seen, free areas in the back are not noticed, the danger
of the situation is noticed only late) and on the other hand
by a very good perceptibility of the possibilities to climb
out of the crowd caught on the ramp via the stairs or the
poles. This has led to a strong pressure in the direction of
the stairs and poles. At the same time, visitors most often
describe that they helped each other. Even though fear of
death is reported, the witnesses contradict the idea that
there was a mass panic. As the most dangerous dynamics a
combination of falls (often after people had fainted) and
transversal waves could be reconstructed. Falling people can
create a hole in a tightly packed crowd. Due to the pressure
people at the edge of the hole are pulled in, creating a
pile of wedged bodies. These results are in conformance to
reconstructions of other disasters (i.e. [3]). In comparison
to the case analyzed in [3] the situation at the Loveparade
is more complex. In addition, the study presented here
relies on a larger amount of data, and a more systematic
content analysis of physical and psychological aspects. This
methodology allows to describe the dangerous dynamics in a
high level of detail.Bibliography[1] Gerlach J. Professional
processing of causes of the tragic events at the Loveparade
Duisburg 2010, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6073264,
2021.[2] Helbing, D., Mukerji, P., Crowd disasters as
systemic failures: analysis of the Loveparade disaster. EPJ
Data Science 1, 7. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds7 , 2012.[3]
Johnson N. R., 1987. Panic at ''The Who Concert Stampede":
An Empirical Assessment, Social Problems, Vol. 34, No. 4,
1987},
month = {Jun},
date = {2023-06-28},
organization = {11th International Conference on
Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics,
Eindhoven (Netherlands), 28 Jun 2023 -
30 Jun 2023},
subtyp = {After Call},
cin = {IAS-7},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)IAS-7-20180321},
pnm = {5111 - Domain-Specific Simulation $\&$ Data Life Cycle Labs
(SDLs) and Research Groups (POF4-511) / CrowdDNA -
TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPUTER-ASSISTED CROWD MANAGEMENT (899739)
/ Croma - Crowd Management in Transport Infrastructures
(BMBF-DB001534)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5111 / G:(EU-Grant)899739 /
G:(DE-Juel-1)BMBF-DB001534},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)6},
doi = {10.34734/FZJ-2023-04021},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1017210},
}