Five killed at snowboard event
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from December 1999.
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The Austria Press Agency cited police in Innsbruck, capital of the western province of Tyrol, as saying at least 39 people were trampled by spectators leaving the city's Olympic stadium after the "Air and Style" snowboarding event.
It remains unclear exactly how the incident happened, but rescue workers and police sources said it appeared a crowd leaving the stadium had slipped on any icy slope and slid into a barrier which gave way, causing a pile up and consequent panic in the mass behind.
"A large crowd was lying on the ground ... and another crowd from behind pushed against them," Michael Wildner, an emergency worker with the Red Cross, told Austrian state television. Wildner said emergency workers arrived quickly and were able to move the crowd back into the stadium, preventing any further injuries.
Five young women aged 14 to 21 were trampled to death, police said. Another 16 people remained hospitalized early Sunday, four of them in comas with life-threatening injuries, Dr. Norbert Mutz at the Innsbruck hospital, told Austrian state television.
The accident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, (2100 GMT). The scene apparently became so chaotic at one point that a police officer fired a shot in the air when ambulance crews rushing to the scene were nearly trampled.
Reports said the covered bodies of the victims remained on the ground for several hours after the accident and were illuminated by floodlights set up for the sporting events.
One woman broke through police barriers and ran to the bodies, then fell sobbing over one of them, apparently her daughter. She was taken away by ambulance crews. Another woman collapsed in screams after being told that one of her daughters was among the victims.
Arnold Stattmann, director of the Innsbruck police said the stadium had been prepared with optimal security and an extra 200 men had been hired for the event. But the mayor of Innsbruck Herwig van Staa told state television that alcohol may have played a role in the tragedy.
