Security for concerts: Facing the crowd

In the aftermath of the Alhamra tragedy, experts share their opinions on the best ways to improve security.

KARACHI:

 “When I heard the news, I was baffled, speechless and flabbergasted. The incident itself was pretty shocking but the fact that it was my concert made it even harder to believe,” says Lahore-based singer Annie Khalid who performed at Alhamra Cultural Complex last week. “During the concert, I was walking around the arena, interacting with crowd; it’s so unfortunate because maybe for a moment, I saw one of those girls or shook hands with the ones injured.”

Khalid performed at the all-girls concert, held by the Punjab Group of Colleges, in which three girls were killed due to a stampede following the concert. The news of the tragedy received national coverage, as organisers and the government, have been blamed for the lack of security and preparation to handle the capacity of the crowd. Khalid, equally stunned by the calamity, has maintained that a better crowd-management strategy should have been in place. “Maybe they could’ve given a gap between letting people out.”

Meanwhile, Khalid explains that fan reactions can range from people flipping out to screaming and taking pictures, “Female fans tend to always scream and shriek,  while male fans can have a more intimidating reaction which can, at times, include grabbing or pulling.”

However, speaking of her own experience at the concert, Khalid said that the crowd was surprisingly very well-behaved and energised. “All-boys concerts tend to get a little bit more rowdy but all-girls concerts are always civilised and well-behaved,” adds Khalid.

Her manager Faisal Khan, who has considerable amount of experience in the music industry as he managed the band Roxen as well, explains that at international events, there is always a medical staff and a team of attendants on duty so that in case something goes wrong, they have the situation under control. Khan believes that anyone planning an event this big should leave some space, that is, if the venue had a crowd capacity of 20,000 people, only 15,000 should be allowed in.

Meanwhile, Entity Paradigm (EP) bassist and manager Hassaan Khalid, who is familiar with the logistical aspects of AlHamra after having performed there repeatedly, claims that security is the last thing on organisers’ minds due to the mounting costs. “Bands such as Junoon or Awaz had many issues because the scale of their shows was such. The reality is that event management is not an easy task when there are thousands of people involved.”

Event management company Elysium Entertainment’s CEO Mukarram Jamil, who has organised several major concerts across the country, believes that crowd-control is the most essential aspect of holding a big concert. “The most important thing is monitoring how people are let out of the stadium,” he says while adding that in the past he had used techniques such as partitioning off areas so that people are released in sections. Additionally, Jamil also said it’s also important to make sure that there are enough exits.

Insiders have said that the school had chosen to use its own security rather than AlHamra security which is a slightly more experienced in dealing with a crowd that big. “However, the incident has to be looked into more carefully because a disaster like this at a private event is rare,” Jamil adds. Thus far, 10 people have been arrested and other events and concerts organised by the university have been postponed till the incident is looked into.

International rules for large gatherings

• Determine the expected number of people and plan the event at a facility of sufficient size.

• Analyse similar events at the venue to find if there were any significant problems.

• There should also be an adequate number of volunteers or security personnel who can take appropriate steps and can immediately respond in case of troublesome situations.

• Using crowd-control products such as stanchions and velvet rope can help people stay in lines. If you need to separate areas for privacy and security reasons, barricades can also be used.

• To avoid overcrowding, the number of people should be monitored. Once the maximum capacity of the venue has been reached, no further entry should be allowed.

SOURCES: crowdsafe.com, thesportjournal.org, crowdsafe.com

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2012.