Thousands to mourn Love Parade victims

Duisburg, Germany (News Today) - Thousands of people are expected to gather Saturday for a memorial service a week after a stampede at a German music festival left 21 people dead.

The service at the Salvator Church in the northern German city of Duisburg was being broadcast at 14 other churches in town and at the local soccer arena, which has a capacity of 31,500.

Organizers said they estimate between 10,000 to 100,000 people may turn up to watch.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff both cut short their holidays to be at the service. Duisburg Mayor Adolf Sauerland did not plan to be there, however, after reports he had received death threats for allowing the Love Parade festival to take place in the city.

Organizers planned a candle procession from the scene of the tragedy to Salvator Church and the arena. The church can accommodate about 500 people, and the seats were reserved mainly for relatives of the victims.

Joachim Mueller-Lange, the vicar responsible for emergency spiritual healing, said all the families of those killed had been contacted, including some who live abroad. Some families did not plan to attend because burials were being held Saturday, while others declined to attend because they wished for something more private, he said.

A remembrance ceremony was also planned at the Duisburg synagogue.

The deadly crush happened July 24 in an underpass between the main event site and an expansion area.

Witnesses told CNN affiliate NTV that people pushed into the tunnel from both sides until it was dangerously overcrowded. People were crushed against the walls and one another, losing consciousness and creating panic.

The Duisburg public prosecutor's office said 511 were injured.

Merkel has called for a thorough investigation into the incident and said she was "horrified and saddened" by the tragedy.

Some 1.4 million people had shown up at the popular festival, which featured dozens of DJs spinning techno music for hours, Carsten Leub of NTV said.

Organizers had expected only 700,000 to 800,000 attendees, so they opened an additional event site to accommodate more people.

The numbers are disputed by police, who say the area can hold between 250,000 and 350,000, and at no time was it filled to capacity.

Witnesses told NTV that police were warned at least an hour before the incident that the underpass was becoming dangerously crowded. An additional entryway had been opened before the accident to relieve some of the pressure.

Police are investigating the cause of the back-up in the underpass.

Source : CNN

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