Berlin: German state authorities on Wednesday accused the organiser of last weekend`s Love Parade techno festival of major security breaches which may have led to the crush that killed 21 people and injured more than 500.
The organiser`s security officials failed to properly control the entrance area where the victims were crushed, according to North Rhine-Westphalia`s Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger and the state`s chief police controller Dieter Wehe.
"Security did not fulfil its duty," Wehe said while presenting the key findings of a preliminary police investigation at a news conference.
It was unclear if 150 staffers who were supposed to be posted at the entrance area were really present, Wehe said, adding: "But it is a fact that the existing security detail was insufficient."
When the organisers couldn`t manage to control the flow of tens of thousands pouring into the event area in Duisburg, they eventually turned to the police for help, he said.
PTI
