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
First Published: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 11:21