Beyoncé fans looking to get home after a concert this week in Georgia were beset by panic and widespread injuries after a stampede ensued at a nearby rail station.
Concertgoers were leaving the final show of Beyoncé’s run of Cowboy Carter concerts at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the early morning hours of July 15 when a shocking pileup ensued at the Vine City Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Station, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
The stampede, which occurred on an escalator going down into the station, reportedly left 11 people injured.
DailyMail.com has reached out to MARTA officials for comment but hasn’t yet received a response.
Stephany Fisher, the senior director of communications for MARTA, told DailyMail.com on Friday: ‘Just after midnight on Tuesday, July 15, 11 people leaving the Beyoncé concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta were injured on an escalator at Vine City Station.
‘One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport,’ she continued. ‘Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations.’
Beyoncé fans looking to get home after a concert this week in Georgia were beset by panic and widespread injuries after a stampede ensued at a nearby rail station in Atlanta
Eleven people were injured after a stampede at the Vine City MARTA station reportedly led an escalator to malfunction shortly after midnight on July 15. Beyoncé’s July 14 show was her final in the Atlanta area on her Cowboy Carter tour; pictured July 4 in Landover, Maryland
Fisher also relayed information from MARTA police officers, who suggested that the commotion was set in motion when ‘a person began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly.’
She noted that the escalator had since been cordoned off from passengers to ensure no further injuries.
Fisher added that both MARTA and Schindler, the company that built the escalator, were investigating what caused it to malfunction.
In a statement, Schindler extended sympathy to injured passengers and said: ‘At this time, we have no verified information as to the cause and it would be inappropriate to speculate.’
According to local station 11Alive, MARTA police chief Scott Kreher and acting CEO Rhonda Allen revealed what they believe was the cause of the dangerous commotion.
In video from the meeting, Kreher claimed that a 10-year-old girl reportedly began screaming after she saw a cockroach or ‘palmetto bug.’
Allen added, ‘There was someone who started to scream outside of the station. She was startled by a bug outside, outside the large crowd.’
The officials said that the screams spooked transit users further inside the station, where a mass of people were already lined up on an escalator, which was allegedly overcrowded at the time.
Stephany Fisher, senior director of communications for MARTA, suggested the commotion was set in motion when ‘a person began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly’
According to local station 11Alive, MARTA police chief Scott Kreher said a 10-year-old girl began screaming outside the station after seeing a cockroach, which led people in the station to panic and overload the escalator
According to MARTA’s acting CEO Rhonda Allen, the quick movements of the people on the escalator, combined with the immense weight on the device caused it to speed up at first, before it came to a dead stop
The sudden jerk tossed passengers onto the ground and reportedly led to many of the injuries. Some videos showed passengers helping injured people off the ground
One particularly gruesome clip showed a person’s leg that appeared to have been severely lacerated in the stampede as it oozed blood
‘Imagine a group of people saying, “I want to get down, I want to get down,” began to usher themselves down the escalator,’ Allen said at the board meeting.
According to her, the quick movements of the people on the escalator, combined with the immense weight on the device caused it to speed up at first, before it came to a dead stop.
A short video clip posted online appears to show the escalator as it was already packed with people who had rushed on amid the commotion.
It appears to briefly speed up then sudden stop as some people are seen falling forward.
The sudden jerk tossed passengers onto the ground and reportedly led to many of the injuries.
Other video showed passengers trying to help others off the ground.
One particularly gruesome clip showed a person’s leg that appeared to have been severely lacerated in the stampede as it oozed blood.
Allen claimed the escalator had been inspected just days before the calamity, suggesting it had been in working order at the time.
The escalator was reportedly inspected and passed on July 10, and it was again inspected the morning after the malfunction
According to the manufacturer, ‘It appears that the escalator was overloaded beyond design capacity causing the unit to briefly accelerate and the brakes to engage as part of the unit’s multi-layered, code-required safety system’
‘One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport,’ Fisher said. ‘Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations’
In order to decrease the likelihood of such mishaps in the future, Allen outlined a plan to the board for more ‘aggressive’ transit staffing at major events like Beyoncé’s concert to ensure the escalators aren’t overloaded
Beyoncé will next be performing a two-night run in Las Vegas on July 25 and 26; pictured in 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey
However, an inspection certificate on the escalator said the certification was set to expire in August, according to 11Alive.
In a statement to People on Friday, Schindler said the malfunctioning escalator had been examined later on the morning of July 15, and inspectors determined that ‘there was no indication of equipment malfunction.’
Instead, ‘it appears that the escalator was overloaded beyond design capacity causing the unit to briefly accelerate and the brakes to engage as part of the unit’s multi-layered, code-required safety system,’ the statement continued.
‘As also indicated during the Working Session, prior to the incident, the escalator has undergone standard monthly maintenance with the most recent service taking place on July 10th, less than a week before the incident. The escalator was found to be fully compliant and performing as expected at that time. Again, we extend our sympathies to the persons injured and will continue to provide technical support and cooperate fully with any further investigative efforts.’
In order to decrease the likelihood of such mishaps in the future, Allen outlined a plan to the board for more ‘aggressive’ transit staffing at major events like Beyoncé’s concert.
She said the extra employees would be better able to coordinate passengers and ensure that only the approved number are on escalators at a given time.
MARTA confirmed to 11Alive that members of its police force were present in the station at the the time of the stampede.
Beyoncé’s July 14 show was the fourth and final of her Atlanta run of Cowboy Carter concerts, which began on July 10.
She will next be performing a two-night run in Las Vegas on July 25 and 26.
