Five years after tragedy, Love Parade trauma remains

In front of a mandala draped in thousands of flower buds, Duisburg on Friday officially remembered those who died in the mass panic on July 24, 2010, a catastrophe that is still very much alive for Germany society as questions remain unanswered as to who can be held responsible.

"Five years have gone by, and still the trauma remains," said Duisburg Mayor Sören Link as he addressed the hundreds present for the ceremony, which included victims' families, those injured and traumatized and a host of political representatives.

"It is inexplicable that after so many years so many questions remain unanswered," said Link, referring indirectly to lingering criticism of the city over claims of misconduct with regard to how the Duisburg festival was organized.

"A legal case is central for the victims' families - so that they can go on with their lives and deal with the unthinkable suffering they have been forced to live through," he said.

Charges pending

In the early afternoon on July 24, 2010, a bottleneck formed at one of the tunnels leading into the Love Parade festival grounds, and panic began to spread as people attempted to move in both directions through the tunnel.

Nineteen people either suffocated or were trampled to death at the scene, while two other victims died in the hospital. According to hospital records and police reports, at least 652 others were injured.

Six public servants from the city of Duisburg and four employees of Lopavent, the company that put on the Love Parade, are facing criminal charges. The charges, filed well over a year ago, include involuntary manslaughter and bodily injury caused by negligence.

Accusations of responsibility bounced back and forth for years between festival organizers and city officials who had approved and overseen the permits necessary to hold the event.

Duisburg's public prosecutor, Michael Schwarz, has singled out two causes for the disaster.

"Fatal errors with the planning and approval of the event as well as a lack of monitoring safety-relevant requirements on the day of the event led to" the deaths and injuries, a statement from his office said.

In addition, the entrances and exits to the festival grounds were not adequate to handle the crowds that came. The prosecutor's office concluded that it should have been recognized by the public servants and event planners that the safety measures were inadequate and would result in a life-threatening situation.

Adolf Sauerland, the mayor of Duisburg at the time of the tragedy, is not among those facing charges. He resisted over a year of calls to resign after the tragedy and was later voted out of office.

glb / sms (dpa, AFP)