19 injured in crowd crush at Falls Festival

At least 19 people have been taken to hospital with serious injuries following a crowd crush incident at the Falls Music and Arts Festival at Lorne in Victoria.

Victoria Police advised that a large number of people were injured after those at the front of a crowd leaving a performance lost their footing at about 9.50pm yesterday (Friday 30th December).

Ambulance Victoria Commander Paul Holman said paramedics and ambulances were on site, and worked with first aid providers to triage and assess more than 60 people injured in the crush.

Holman explained in a statement “we transported 13 women and six men to hospital, mostly with lower limb fractures.

“Injuries included leg, rib, hip and pelvic fractures, possible spinal injuries, head and facial injuries, cuts and abrasions.

“Patients’ ages ranged from late teens to late 20s.

“It was quite a chaotic scene and required a major response.

“While the injuries are significant, this could have been quite a tragedy and we are grateful that the outcome was not worse.”

Festival organisers posted an official note on Facebook confirming the crowd crush incident just after Australian band DMA’s had finished playing in the Grand Theatre tent.

Eyewitness accounts reported the crush as a “stampede” with bones broken, shoes torn off and mobile phones crushed.

Festival organisers have confirmed that the event will not end prematurely, but that changes will be made to prevent it from happening again.

The organisers have also set up an account for anyone with inquiries about the incident or the welfare of specific festival-goers.

The Falls Music and Arts Festival is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne, Victoria; Marion Bay, Tasmania; Byron Bay, NSW and Fremantle, Western Australia over the New Year's Eve and January period. The Lorne event is scheduled to end tonight.

Last year the event was relocated because of bushfires in the Lorne area.

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