"With that kind of escalation, some reaction had to be expected," said Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, a Yemeni development expert.
Inkatha was furious that some ballot papers in some ANC strongholds, such as the township of Lamontville, outside Durban, did not have an Inkatha sticker attached at the bottom, as they were supposed to.Still, difficulties had to be expected in a country most of whose 22.7m electorate had never voted before.
Therefore, at the Love Parade in Duisburg, problems with the in- and outflows and a critical accumulation of people had to be expected.
Problems had to be expected already for much smaller flow rates, as there were vehicles and a food stand as well as fences on the ramp, which must have reduced its capacity considerably.
We do not question that the density in the crowd became so high at some locations that it could seriously harm health and lives, but it is puzzling that most victims were not found on the side of the staircase, or next to the pole(s) and the container, where they had to be expected in case of a crowd crush.
According to our assessment, it had to be expected that the access points would have to be opened and fences would eventually be overcome, given that the festival area and the inflow capacity were small (in particular as the access was delayed by leveling works).
