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Google PlayFour people are in critical condition and a further four were left injured after a crowd crush at Nigerian artist Asake’s concert on Thursday night (Dec. 15).
According to a report from Sky News, emergency services were called to Brixton’s O2 Academy where around 3,000 people—many reportedly without tickets—are said to have “stormed” the venue after they were left stranded in freezing temperatures.
One woman wrote on Twitter: “Left my house to enjoy Asake, ended up having a panic attack in queue because of the stampede and people not acting accordingly. I was in literal tears, scared for my life. Worst experience of my life.”
The concert was eventually cancelled just ten minutes in, with fans of the singer told: “The reason we have to stop the show is because they have breached the doors. You’ve got 3,000 people who have broken the doors outside and because of security the police have asked us to close the show.”
Video on TikTok showed him going on stage to say: “They said outside is fucked up already. So we have to end the show. I don’t know why. It’s not me.”
The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into what they said was an “extremely upsetting” incident after they found a number of people with “injuries believed to have been caused by crushing”.
“This is an extremely upsetting incident which has left four people critically ill in hospital,” Commander Ade Adelekan said. “A police investigation has been launched, and it will be as thorough and as forensic as necessary to establish exactly what happened last night.”
While no arrests have been made, he added that specialist officers would examine the scene and CCTV but appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Taking to social media, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted that he was “heartbroken that this could happen to young Londoners enjoying a night out in our city”.
Any witnesses who are yet to speak with police are asked to call 101, while those with video footage that could potentially assist the police have been asked to contact @MetCC on Twitter.
The O2 Academy has been approached for comment.
