Loveparade Tragedy

The tragic loss of life and the many injuries from the crush in the tunnel leading to and from the venue in Duisburg leaves many questions open, particularly about whether it was avoidable given better crowd management or better policing. This is all too reminiscent of the Hillsborough tragedy in Britain.

N24 has the headline 19 Tote und viele offene Fragen and sets out some of the questions that need to be answered. Stern reports Alle 19 Toten sind identifiziert and has links to other reports. Tagesschau.de has Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt nach der Tragödie with links to video material.

Until recently, I co-ordinated two teams of clergy who were available to respond to major incidents like this and through that I gained insights into how the blue light and other agencies operate in England when something like this happens. I would be interested to find out what arrangements exist in Germany for a planned response to major incidents. Very often incidents affect families and friends from across the world. Not all those who died at Duisberg came from Germany and even some of those who had homes in Germany originated elsewhere. Please pray for the bereaved and the injured and their families.