The Who concert disaster
| Date | December 3, 1979 |
|---|---|
| Location | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 39°5′50.99″N 84°30′17.83″W / 39.0974972°N 84.5049528°WCoordinates: 39°5′50.99″N 84°30′17.83″W / 39.0974972°N 84.5049528°W |
| Deaths | 11 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 26 |
The Who concert disaster occurred on December 3, 1979 when British rock band the Who performed at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and a stampede of concert-goers outside the coliseum's entry doors resulted in the deaths of eleven people.
The Who were in the midst of the United States portion of their 1979 world tour and had already played Passaic, New Jersey, New York City, Detroit, and Pittsburgh before arriving in Cincinnati. The concert was a sellout, with 18,348 tickets sold. The majority of these, 14,770, were unassigned general admission tickets that were first-come, first-served.
A few hours before the show, a sizeable crowd had already gathered at the front of the arena. Entry to the arena was through a series of individual doors all along the front of the arena, as well as a few doors at each side. The crowd focused at each of the doors. The doors were not opened at the scheduled time, causing the crowd to become increasingly agitated and impatient. During this period, the Who undertook a late soundcheck. Some members of the crowd heard this and mistakenly believed that the concert was starting. Some people in the back of the crowd began pushing toward the front, but this rush soon dissipated as the crowd realized that no doors had been opened and that the concert had not begun.
A pair of doors were finally opened at the far right of the main entrance. As concert goers entered the stadium through the two open doors, those waiting in front of all of the other doors began pushing forward. After a short period of waiting and then knocking on the doors and the glass next to the doors, the crowd realized that none of the remaining doors would be opened. The entire crowd then surged and pushed toward the two doors which had been opened. This caused many people to get trampled while some suffered more serious injuries. Eleven people were unable to escape the crowd pushing toward them and died by asphyxiation. Twenty-six other people reported injuries.
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