Six people died and dozens were injured in a stampede when panic broke out during a rap concert at an Italian nightclub yesterday morning, the fire service said.
Media reports said the suspected use of a pepper spray-like substance sparked the chaos at the venue in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona in central Italy.
“The cause may have been the dispersal of a stinging substance, the young people fled and trampled over each other. Sadly, six people died and dozens are injured,” the fire service tweeted.
The victims include five people under the age of 18 — three girls and two boys — and an adult woman who accompanied her daughter to the concert, media reported.
Local fire chief Dino Poggiali said that 14 of the injured were in a critical condition, and 40 less serious.
As the crowd panicked, people ran for the three emergency exits, one of which led to a small bridge and the car park, according to a preliminary investigation.
The force of the fleeing crowd made a railing collapse and dozens of people fell, crushing those below to death.
About 1,000 people — many of them young — were in the Lanterna Azzurra (“Blue Lantern”) club for a performance by Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta.
The accident happened at about 1am.
“We were dancing and waiting for the concert to start when we smelt this pungent odor,” a 16-year-old boy who was taken to hospital told the media.
“We ran to one of the emergency exits, but we found it blocked, the bouncers told us to go back,” he said.
In June last year, a woman died and 1,500 were injured in a crush during the broadcast of a Champions League football match final in Turin when rumors of a bombing sparked panic.
About 30,000 people had gathered to watch the broadcast from Cardiff, Wales, of the local team Juventus play Real Madrid when pepper spray was shot into the crowd as part of a robbery attempt.
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