Stampede kills 10 at Indonesian punk concert

updated 4:51 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A stampede at an Indonesian punk rock concert left 10 people dead and dozens more injured, most of them teenagers, police said Sunday.

The deadly crush happened Saturday night as hundreds of people tried at the same time to leave a concert by local band Beside, held at a small cultural center hall in West Java province's capital, Bandung, said local police chief Col. Bambang Suparsono.

Ten people were trampled to death and scores of others were treated for breathing difficulties, said Noorman, a doctor who treated some of the injured. Like many Indonesians, he goes by a single name. Most of the casualties were teenagers, he said.

"People were screaming in panic when others fell down and were trampled," said Dani, a witness. "I saw many people unconscious lying on the ground. I fell down, but fortunately I was pulled out by someone in the crowd."

It was unclear how the rush started at the show in Bandung, about 100 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta. Dani told reporters people were pushing to get in and out of the venue's main entrance at the same time.

The hall had been about 30 percent over its capacity of 700, Suparsono said, adding that investigators were questioning 15 concert organizers. No arrests had been made, he said.

Concert organizers were not immediately available for comment.

A local government official, Edis Siswadi, said the families of those killed might be compensated. He did not give further details.

Stampedes are not unusual at Indonesian rock concerts and sports events, especially in provincial towns where crowd safety measures are often inadequate.

Just over a year ago 10 people died at a rock concert in a sports stadium jammed to more than twice its capacity.

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