19 Killed in Germany: A Stampede at German Love Parade

There were 19 people killed at a German festival, after mass panic erupted.  Police and security present at the Love Parade where 1.4 million people showed up.  Duisburg, Germany is the venue for the world's largest techno music festival.  Previously, it was in Berlin but was driven out because of the noise.

After the city reached capacity, officials shut off a tunnel that enters the city - but opened up a second exit so that people could still get out.  For some reason or another that hasn't been determined panic spread and people flocked to the exits.

The end result was that 19 were crushed to death and 342 more individuals injured.  This is a classic case of why panicking in a crowd is never a good ideal.

The festival was free so there was no ticketing system available to help investigators figure out why the stampede took place.

The stampede is a tragedy.  There's a lot of finger pointing going on over who is to blame.  Is it the festival, or is it the city, who should have kept better control over the city? There's no word over who started the panic but here's a good question - if the person could be identified, should they be held responsible?

Reference: Associated Press