Fifteen killed in mass panic at German "Love Parade"

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At least 15 people were killed and 10 were seriously injured after mass panic broke out at a "Love Parade" music festival in Germany on Saturday, police said.Overcrowding at an entrance tunnel to a former freight rail station where the techno music festival was being held sparked a stampede and then a crush in the western city of Duisburg.The festival, attended by about 1.4 million people, was not immediately cancelled because authorities feared that could spark a second panic."It's a horror situation especially because rescuers cannot get through to those injured," ZDF TV reporter Thomas Muenten said. "The people literally trampled each other on the way into this tunnel.""To prevent further chaos the event wasn't cancelled. The people are being asked to leave the area quietly," he added.Ambulances rushed to pick up victims and police set up an emergency first aid station near the entrance, where live images from WDR television showed thousands of revellers streaming out of the festival and towards the city's main train station.TRAPPED AGAINST WALL"There was no escape," one Love Parade participant named Marius told the Bild.de website. "People were pressed into the wall. I was afraid I'd die."One woman raver told Bild: "I was lucky. I found a hole to escape through but two women were killed right next to me." Bild reporter Frank Schneider was quoted saying: "I counted 11 people dead. It was a shock."Official police figures put the number of dead at 15 people at 1720 GMT, with another 10 were resuscitated while at least 15 more were injured. Some media reported at least 100 injured.Live images from the venue showed the music still playing as helicopters buzzed overhead, and WDR reported the main train staion was closed and mobile phone networks were overloaded."The emergency workers have problems getting to the area due to the massive crowds," a fire department spokesman from Duisburg told Reuters, declining to be named.The annual event was first held in Berlin in 1989.(Reporting by Brian Rohan, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Angelika Stricker, Erik Kirschbaum)

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