Love Parade Gone Wrong.

Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates but since we were away, i used it as an excuse to getaway from work as well the need to do a daily update. We actually came back on Sunday but i'm just taking my sweet time to collect my thoughts.

And sifting through over a thousand pictures i took and finding just a "few" that best describe our 9 days away is proving to be hard but i know it has to be done. I will be back with a proper update.

The last 4 weeks have been a whirlwind of activies and family reunions.

And a last minute decision made us make a detour before heading home to two very missed kitties.


So the Love Parade was on in Duisburg and seeing that it was sort of on the way home, we thought we'd check it out. We had gone to the Love Parade in Dortmund two years ago and had lots of fun, so we thought, why not!?

An early check-out at our very homey service apartment meant our eyes were half closed by the time we were half way to Duisburg. The drive was only two hours but we were tired. So J made an impulsive decision to stop at one of the rest stops along the highway and we both passed out for just over an hour.

During which time that one hour nap and detour to pick up a friends' friend probably ended up saving us from being tangled up in that stampede that killed twenty in the tunnel leading to the Love Parade.

You can read about how the event unfolded here. Or reports here, here and here. You can even watch videos that witnesses have uploaded on YouTube.

I still can't believe that that many people were stuck in that tunnel leading to the venue. The images floating around on the Internet are shocking. I can't even begin to fathom what it must have been like for those being trampled on. I'm not good with small spaces and being so small, i'm sure i wouldn't be able to handle the lack of space/air but then again, who could?


The minute we arrived they had barricaded the street leading to the tunnel/bridges and you could hear the Police on the loudspeaker telling people to go home as the area was full.

We had no idea how packed it really was, we were simply following the mass crowd ahead. Behind us the cross-section was slowly filling up.


The sound of an overhead helicopter, police sirens and ambulances trying to fight their way through the crowd echoed. One could only describe the area as chaotic.

The streets leading to where we were, were lined with Police vans.

At that time we didn't know that there was only one entrance, so we walked back thinking we could find another entrance, only to be told by the Security that there was only one, so we walked back to where we were stopped.

One entry and exit for that many visitors? That's crazy! Who agreed to that stupid idea? An estimated 1,4 million people turned up during the course of the day and the actual Love Parade area was only supposed to hold 250,000.

What the... ?


By the time we got back the area we were at was packed! There was a stream of people exiting. Some had no shoes on and others were piggybacked out looking quite exhausted.

Some looked bothered. Others looked lost and confused. And some were voicing out their anger about how poorly organised the Love Parade was.

We eventually turned back and headed back to the car only to hear on the radio that so far ten people had died. We counted our lucky stars that we took that nap at the Rest Stop, otherwise, who knows what would have had happened and where we would have ended up at.

***

Turned out 20 21 people between the ages of 18 and 38 died and over 500 were injured.

And although there are some people, who aren't as affected by what had happened, i can't help but get upset and cry each time i watch the news coverage and the YouTube videos. Maybe it's because i was there and saw the ambulances rush out. Or maybe knowing how close we were to being in that mess just simply scares me.

I dunno. Maybe i'm just over sensitive.

I'm sad for those people who lost their lives. And what was meant to be a happy event turned out a nightmare for many. Or worse, even cost them their lives.

May their souls rest in peace.