5 ways to avoid a crowd crush and stay safe during a concert

With the news of eight people dying and several others injured at American rapper, Travis Scott's Astroworld concert, it is a good time to discuss how to keep yourself safe at a concert.

Crowd crushes are not a new phenomenon, they have been happening for a while now.

They occur when a lot of people are in an enclosed place. People start to push against one another until some suffocate or get crushed, sometimes to death.

Religious gatherings, musical concerts, and sports activities draw the largest crowds and these are places where people are likely to overpopulate a space.

Crowd crushes are popular throughout history. In 2006, 362 pilgrims died in what was described as a 'crowd quake' in Mecca.

Sometime in April 2021, 45 people died and 150 others were injured at the Lag B’Omer religious festival in Israel.

Also, with December coming soon and concerts and church events lining up, it is important to know how to stay safe at such events.

1. Use your eyes

Look around you and observe where a lot of people are going to and move away from there.

Leave the venue if you find the place teeming with too many people and a tight crowd forming.

2. Stay on your feet

Whatever you do, do not go down to the ground. Do everything to stay above the crowd. Stay on your feet. Once you go down, you will likely be crushed to death.

3. Put your arms on your chest

If you fold your arms on your chest like a boxer ready to punch, you will protect your rib cage so it doesn’t get smashed and cause you to pass out.

4. Avoid walls and barriers

You certainly do not want to be pressed against a wall. That is a terrifying position to be trapped during a crowd crush.

5. Go with the crowd

Flow with the movement in which the crowd is going, let your movement be in the direction the crowd is moving. Fighting against them might make you fall.

Finally, in such a situation, we become our worst enemies, trampling on each other, trying to save ourselves. Pay attention to your neighbour and practice kindness.