LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — At least eight people were injured, including four in critical condition, after a suspected crowd crush incident outside of a concert at Brixton’s O2 Academy on Thursday night.
London’s Metropolitan Police were called to The O2 Academy shortly after 9pm by venue staff who reported that a large crowd was attempting to force entry to the venue for a concert by Nigerian singer-songwriter Asake.
Video from the scene appears to show a large crowd in the street outside of the venue pushing through the club’s front entrance amid cheers and screams.
Emergency responders transported eight people to the hospital, including four who were initially reported to be in critical condition, however, it is unclear if the injuries took place inside or outside of the venue.
On Friday, a police spokesman said that more than 4,000 people attended the sold-out show but it was unclear if that count included people already inside of the venue, which has a capacity of 5,000 fans.
The crowd situation caused the show, the final night of three sold-out performances at the venue, to be cut short.
“My heart is with those who were injured last night and caused any form of discomfort. I pray you get well soonest. I am also in the process of reaching out to individuals. I still do not have the full brief from the venue management themselves as to what led to the disruption at the entrance of the Brixton Academy,” Asake said in a post to his Instagram before he went on to apologize for the abbreviated performance.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident, including a image that appeared to show an officer pushing a member of the public.
“We are establishing an online portal on our website later today. There were 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,” the statement from Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove said.
Academy Music Group did not respond to a request for comment.
