BUENOS AIRES: Two people were killed and many more injured when a crush of patrons thronged a rock concert in Argentina early Sunday, officials said.
Authorities said more than 300,000 people attended the open air concert featuring the popular singer Indio Solari and his band in the town of Olavarria, in Buenos Aires province.
A total of 12 people are still hospitalised, two of whom are in intensive care.
Witnesses said crowds thronged the concert stage at the event in the city of some 90,000 — roughly a third as many people as the number of concertgoers — which led to the deaths and injuries.
Mayor Ezequiel Galli said, “Almost twice as many people took in the concert than had been expected.”
Solari, 68, was questioned by local authorities. Local media speculated that many people paid $50 for tickets to what they thought might be his last show since he recently revealed that he has Parkinson’s disease.
For some, the Olavarria accident recalled a far deadlier tragedy in December 2004, when 194 people died, many from asphyxiation and burning, as fireworks were set off during a concert at the Republica Cromanon nightclub in Buenos Aires.
