At least three people have died during Steve Aoki‘s DJ set yesterday at Thriller Music Park in Madrid. According to reports, the deaths at the Halloween party that drew over 20,000 happened when a tightly packed dance floor turned into a dangerous crowd crush. According to witnesses quoted in El País (via LA Weekly) passages and exits became overwhelmed during Aoki’s set as people tried to move on and off the dance floor. A similar tragedy happened in 2010 at Love Parade in Duisburg, Germany, a city of roughly 500,00 people just north of Duesseldorf.
Aoki has issued the following statement about the tragedy: “After my performance last night at Thriller Music Park at the Madrid Arena in Spain, I was devastated to hear that three people had died during a crowd rush at one of the exits. The safety of my fans has always been my top priority and had I known that there was any distress putting people in jeopardy within the venue I would have ended my show immediately. My show in Bilbao, Spain tonight will be cancelled out of respect for those who lost their lives and those who are injured. I would like to express my deepest condolences and heart felt prayers to the families and loved ones during this difficult time.”
The promoter of the Thriller Music Park event has also issued a statement: “The triggering of events was apparently launched by an assistant flaming a flare in one of nine vomitory access, not on Centre Court. The promoter stressed that the Madrid Arena was not filled beyond recommended capacity, saying, in part, “The capacity certified by the foreign company access control was below the required capacity for this event.”