Baghdad Stampede Kills Hundreds

[Sava]

Originally posted by C0ckney
635 people would disagree with you.

yeah but most of them were women and children...

men would survive

[VetLegion]

Sava,

He said he could not rule out the possibility that some victims had been poisoned by cyanide, but was waiting for forensic evidence.

??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4199618.stm

[VetLegion]

I think children are more likely to survive the jump than grown men, due to their smaller mass.

[Sava]

Originally posted by VetLegion
I think children are more likely to survive the jump than grown men, due to their smaller mass.

uhmmm children usually can't swim

re: cyanide

[VetLegion]

Man, this is like when those catastophic earthquakes hit Iran or Turkey and you hear about 20 000 dead and such. It's surreal

[Sava]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Man, this is like when those catastophic earthquakes hit Iran or Turkey and you hear about 20 000 dead and such. It's surreal

and, unfortunately, like all those other tragedies, it gets less airtime than one dead middle class white girl in Aruba

[Edan]

They're saying the number may rise to 1000.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050831/ts_nm/iraq_dc

[VetLegion]

This seems to be the worst stampede in the century so far:

Here is a chronology of the worst stampedes in the 21st century:

March 31, 2001 - At least 36 pilgrims are killed in a stampede at a Muslim shrine in the central Pakistani province of Punjab.

April 11 - At least 43 people are crushed to death when soccer fans stampeded as they tried to force their way into a South African stadium.

May 9 - 126 people are killed in a stampede at a soccer stadium in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

Dec. 1, 2002 - At least 36 people are killed in northern Bangladesh trying to get to clothes and money given away by a rich businessman for a Muslim festival

Feb. 17, 2003 - At least 21 people are killed in a stampede at an illegal U.S. nightclub in Chicago when they try to escape pepper spray and are crushed behind blocked doors.

Aug. 27, - Stampeding pilgrims trample at least 32 people to death, many of them elderly women, at a religious gathering in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Feb. 1, 2004 - A stampede kills 251 Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during the ritual stoning of the devil at the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Feb 5 - A stampede at a Lunar New Year lantern display in China's capital Beijing kills 37.

April 12 - At least 21 women are killed in a stampede in the northern Indian town of Lucknow when supporters of a local politician began giving out free sarees to celebrate his birthday.

Jan. 25, 2005 - At least 257 Hindu pilgrims, including several women and children, are killed in a stampede near a remote temple in India's Maharashtra state.

Aug. 31 - At least 640 people are killed in Iraq when a crowd of Shi'ites stampede off a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad.

[Sava]

the lesson to be learned?

stay away from pilgrims

[Eli]

841 already.

[Winston]

This reminds me of the stampedes in Mecca some years ago. Something is wrong when it's safer to fight frontline battles than go near a crowd of pilgrims.

[Chemical Ollie]

Religion
Terrorists
Rumours
Stampedes
Creating "terrorist magnet areas" in the "War against Terrorism"

[Sava]

excessive thumb usage

Ted Striker

[Pekka]

You are right Ves, definitely big part of blame should go to city authorities, letting such big gatherings happen. I would also blame the local IRS for not funding enough of safe exits from the location and I'm pretty sure the fire safety regulations were also disregarded, it's disgusting this whole lacking of .. following of law and order, regulations and rules.

But what we need to understand is that these people don't live by law and rule. They live by not drinking alcohol and not checking out women.

MY suggestion. Fire the fire officer in charge of that day, fire the ones who gave permit to hold this event and then fire the people who agreed on that permit and wouldn't arrange for security staff, keeping out the people not fitting in anymore, according to fire safety regulations. Also fire the police chief, who is responsible for permits all in all. Just fire everyone. City Authority BOO BOO BOO!!

[MOBIUS]

Perhaps people wouldn't have been so panicked if national security wasn't such a disgrace with a number of suicide bombs previously killing hundreds during such religious gatherings - ultimately the blame for the security situation lays firmly at the door of the US...

As for people surviving a 30m fall from a bridge into a river, I'm surprised you guys haven't yet produced an Excel Chart on the subject the way you've been prattling on about it in such a pointless manner...

Personally I'd think the obvious answer is that if you dump a few hundred tons of writhing human bodies onto each other from a great height - the ones at the bottom are going to be crushed to death before they get a chance to drown. But that's just me...