A 28-year-old security guard working Miami’s Ultra Music Festival has been left with severe brain haemorrhaging and a broken leg after being trampled by gate crashers who stormed an under-barricaded area Friday night. The Miami Herald reports the guard is in “extremely critical” condition.
The incident occurred near Southeast First Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard, in an area where, two hours before Ultra began admitting punters, police had requested additional fencing, though no reinforcements were supplied. Without the “sturdier, unclimbable portable fencing in use in other areas,” reports the Herald, dozens of unticketed revellers stormed in, severely injuring the guard.
“A mob of people came and started rushing the gate and started pushing it,” Miami Police Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll told the Miami New Times. “She was doing what she was supposed to do, telling them to stop, when they pushed it down and it fell on top of her… They just trampled her.”
“There must have been a whole lot of people. We found her on the ground, screaming in pain,” added Carroll. Mayor Tomás Regalado has condemned festival organisers, saying they “acted irresponsibly” in their failure to properly secure the perimeter of fence that cordoned off the event.
“I think we should not have Ultra next year here,” added Regalado. The Miami police homicide unit, who investigate all non-fatal attacks, are now looking for witnesses to the incident. The event also saw 22 people arrested on Friday night, 15 of them on felony charges and six on misdemeanours.
