Crowd collapses and crushes facts for kids
Crowd collapses and crushes happen when too many people gather in a small space. This can be very dangerous. When a crowd gets too dense, like four or five people in a space of one square meter, people can get pushed together very tightly. This pressure can cause people to fall or get crushed.
When a crowd is this dense, it can act like a fluid. People might be moved around without being able to control where they go. These incidents usually happen because of poor planning or management. Most major crowd disasters can be stopped with simple crowd management plans. They can happen at big events like sports games, concerts, festivals, or religious gatherings. The main problem is how many people are in one area, not just the total number of people.
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How to Prevent Crowd Crushes
Most major crowd disasters can be prevented with good planning. One way to stop crushes is by using barriers and managing how people move. However, sometimes barriers can make things worse by pushing people into an already crowded area. So, barriers can either help or cause a crush.
It's hard for people in a crush to tell those behind them to stop pushing. Police, event organizers, or other observers can help. They can stand on raised platforms or use loudspeakers to guide the crowd. Sometimes, simply spreading out when people arrive or leave can help.
Understanding Crowd Behavior
Sometimes, security staff who are not experienced might think people in a dense crowd are behaving badly on purpose. This can lead them to use force or block paths, which can make the situation worse. For example, in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, some police actions made the crowd problem much more serious.
Signs of Danger
You are at risk of a crush when there are about four people per square meter. A warning sign that you are in danger is feeling touched on all four sides. A more serious sign is feeling waves of pressure moving through the crowd. This happens when people at the back push forward, but those at the front have nowhere to go.
If you find yourself in a crowd surge, try to stay aware of your surroundings. Look ahead and listen to the crowd. If the crowd pushes, go with the movement, but try to move sideways at the same time. Keep moving with the surge and sideways. Also, try to stay upright and away from walls or other things that could trap you.
Safety Laws and Rules
After a terrible crush in 1883 called the Victoria Hall disaster in England, where 183 children died, a new law was made. This law said that all public buildings must have doors that open outwards. These doors often use special latches called crash bars that open easily when pushed. Many building codes around the world now require these safety features.
