Three women are still fighting for their lives after a crowd crush incident at the Brixton O2 Academy in London, Met Police said late on Friday night. It follows an incident at a concert by Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake on Thursday night (December 15)
In statement issued shortly before 10pm, a Met Police spokesperson said: "Three people who were injured during an incident at the 02 Brixton Academy on Thursday evening remain in hospital tonight in a critical condition. All three are women, they are aged 21, 23 and 33 years," reports MyLondon.
"Their next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers. Police were initially called at 21:04hrs following reports that a large number of people were attempting to force entry to the venue in Stockwell Road. Officers attended, arriving at 21:11hrs.
"Working alongside venue staff, some of our officers provided CPR and emergency first aid until the arrival of paramedics. Eight people were taken to hospital with what are believed to be crush injuries. Three remain in south London hospitals in a critical condition.
"We are aware of footage on social media showing an officer pushing a woman from the steps. This matter has been assessed by the Directorate of Professional Standards and there is no evidence of misconduct.
"Another incident where a woman was seen to assault an officer resulted in her arrest. We are aware of a video on social media showing a dog in the venue but we can confirm that there were no police dogs or police dog handlers at the scene last night.
"We have also made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. This is standard national practice following all incidents where police have been in attendance and members of the public have been seriously injured."
Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, policing commander for Lambeth and Southwark, said: “I’d like to extend my sympathies to all those who have been affected by last night’s incident and those that have been injured. Having seen some of the really upsetting images on social media our thoughts are with them.
“An urgent investigation is currently under way led by detectives from our Specialist Crime Command and cordons remain in place as officers continue to work at the scene.
"This is still a fast moving and evolving picture and we are working to establish the events that led up to last night’s incident.
"We are also aware of a vast amount of footage on social media and of course this will be examined as part of the investigation along with footage from officers’ body worn video cameras.
"We are working incredibly closely with our partners and community members and would like to thank them for their support so far in the investigation. We would also like to thank people for coming forward with information.
"London has a number of concerts and events that take place every day of every single week. These are run by event organisers and a police presence is not usual. We were called to the scene last night and we are working with our partners to establish the cause of the incident.
“We have set up an online page for the submission of photos and videos. There were around 4,000 potential witnesses present at the time of this incident and we want to urge any members of the public with information to come forward. We need your information as we try to establish what happened as quickly as we can."
