Angry survivors demanded answers on Sunday after a terrible stampede（踩踏）at “Love Parade 2010”, a music festival in Germany, killed 19 people and left hundreds hurt.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock over Saturday’s tragedy in the western city of Duisburg. “This was a very sad day,” Merkel said. “We must do everything we can to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
Witnesses said that people pushed into the narrow tunnel, the only entrance to the Love Parade festival, from both sides until it was dangerously overcrowded. The panic began as festival-goers began to lose consciousness as they were crushed against the walls and each other. The dead included eight foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia and Spain. More than 340 people were injured.
After the panic, a lot of emergency vehicles, including helicopters, could be seen parked on the highway leading to helicopters, could be seen parked on the highway leading to the festival site, carrying away the injured people. The festival itself, however, went on. Police were afraid that ending the music altogether could cause further unrest among the crowd.
“The event was a real mess,” Patrick Guenter, a 22-year-old baker, said. “Although the festival was full, they kept letting people in.” he added. “It seems the organizers didn’t plan the route. The road was very narrow, and no one knew what was going on.” Said Taggart Bowen-Gaddy,20,an American from Philadelphia.
Officials said 4,000 police officers and 1,000 security guards provided security for the event, which attracted up to 1.4 million people. The authorities had only given organizers permission for 250,000 people to attend.
“I warned one year ago that Duisburg was not a suitable place for the Love Parade. The city is too small and narrow for such events. It is a pity that…” German police union chief Rainer Wendt told the Bild.
The chief organizer, Rainer Schaller, said the popular event would never be held again, “out of respect for the victims and their families”.
First held in Berlin in 1989 just months before the fall of the Wall, the Love Parade is one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. It left Berlin from 2007 onwards after disagreements with the city authorities over security and has been held in several other German cities in recent years.
小题1:How did the German Chancellor Angela Merkel feel about the tragedy?
A．Very disappointed.
B．Angry and surprised.
C．Very puzzled.
D．Touched.小题2:According to Patrick Gunter and Taggart Bowen-Gaddy, ________.
A．the event was well-organized
B．the performance was wonderful
C．Duisburg was suitable for the Love Parade
D．the organization was very bad小题3:We can infer that __________.
A．Rainer Wendt’s warning went unnoticed
B．Rainer Wendt was a chief organizer of Love Parade 2010
C．Rainer Wendt is a music lover
D．Duisburg is a famous holiday destination小题4:We can learn from the passage that ________.
A．the Love Parade has been canceled forever
B．the Love Parade is a very popular sport event
C．the festival was ended shortly after the panic
D．the Love Parade has a history of over 30 years
