The importance of crowd control, crowd management, and a proper emergency exit protocol is often overlooked until a devastating human stampede occurs. Throughout history, human stampedes have occurred at crowded events, generally sparked by panic that spreads through the crowd like wildfire. Something as simple as someone tripping over luggage has triggered a deadly human stampede, as was the case with the 2006 Hajj Stampede.
In an article for The Independent on the Bethnal Green Tube disaster, writer Godfrey Holmes noted that “stampedes start in the wild when animals, guided by herd instinct, bolt away from perceived danger towards perceived safety. People, despite being supposedly more rational beings, join stampedes for the same reason. It is not so often the stampede that kills but the resulting crush.”
Discover the the 27 most deadly human stampedes of all time in the following infographic by SmartAdvocate.com.
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Co-founder and Vice President of SearchRank, responsible for many of the day to day operations of the company. She is also founder of The Arizona Builders’ Zone, a construction / home improvement portal.
