British Jury Faults Police Over 1989 Hillsborough Soccer Stadium Deaths

[Recursion]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/europe/hillsborough-soccer-stadium-disaster.html?_r=2

More than a quarter century ago, 96 Liverpool soccer fans were crushed and trampled to death at an English soccer match, a tragedy that convulsed Britain and shocked the world, even as police and safety officials blamed victims for causing their own deaths.

On Tuesday, a jury found that the fans who died at the match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, had been “unlawfully killed” and the victims of what proved to be fatal police mistakes, a verdict that represented vindication for family members who had waged a long fight for a full accounting.

The jury answered yes to the crucial questions of whether there were errors or omissions by the police in planning and executing security for the match on April 15, 1989, and it specifically cited the actions of commanding officers.

The victims suffocated to death as they entered an F.A. Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest after the police opened an exit gate in an effort to relieve congestion outside the stadium before the game began. In the chaos that ensued, some victims were crushed against steel fencing. Others were trampled, and more than 700 people were injured.

A long time coming. Hard to believe that was more than a quarter century ago.

You'll never walk alone...

[Coventina]

1. Justice finally, but took far too long.

Gosh I'm getting old......

I remember that incident as well as the horrific Bradford City stadium fire.

I was a teenager at the time.....now I'm middle-aged, I guess.

[Recursion]

2. I also remember both of those

Fortunately we've come to understand a lot more about crowd dynamics in the interim.

Bradford, as awful as it was, could have been much more horrible were it not for the heroic actions of the police that day.

What's odd (in light of both stories) is that a lot of stadiums (stadia?) are now talking about moving back to standing-room tickets. I'm not particularly in favor of that. I recognize we've come a long way, but give it a little more time.