Visitors collapsed

Horror on the way home: disaster looms after the concert

Hundreds of visitors were fenced off on a forest path. In an emergency, there would have been no quick escape here.(Bild: Privat/Roland G.)

Even days after the "Racino Rocks" festival in Ebreichsdorf (Lower Austria), the "Krone" continues to receive heavy complaints about the organization. Some readers are particularly upset about the way home. According to recent reports, they even came very close to a catastrophe.

Roland G. was one of 60,000 visitors who had traveled to the big Metallica concert on Saturday. He described dramatic scenes to krone.at: Visitors had been channeled through a wooded area on the way to the parking lot, tightly fenced in and with no means of escape! The path was "only a few meters wide for long stretches", became "narrower and narrower" and finally led through a narrow underpass ...

In the history of major events, there is ample evidence of how dangerous such paths can be.

Roland G., Brandschutzbeauftragter

G. himself is a fire safety officer for a company in Judenburg: "In a panic, serious injuries seem unavoidable. The walk in the dense crowd took an hour and ten minutes. In the history of major events, there is ample evidence of how dangerous such routes can be," he says. Above all, so-called pressure relief (emergency exits or gaps) were missing: "If there really is a push from behind, then you are writing about deaths and not just deficiencies."

Hundreds of visitors were fenced in on a forest path. In an emergency, there would have been no quick escape here.(Bild: Privat/Roland G.)

Crowds of people after the Metallica concert in Ebreichsdorf - lack of toilets, hardly any supply of drinks(Bild: Privat/Roland G.)

Thousands of people flocked to the exits at the same time, making the walk to the parking lots a horror for many.(Bild: Privat/Roland G.)

At certain points there was "block clearance", even for pedestrians.(Bild: Privat/Roland G.)

The organizer knows that he has to do many things better and differently, especially when it comes to organizing the departure.

Wolfgang Kocevar, Bürgermeister von Ebreichsdorf

The Styrian not only wrote to the "Krone". He also wrote to the district governor of Baden, the provincial police director and the mayor of Ebreichsdorf. Nevertheless, Mayor Wolfgang Kocevar replied and assured them that there would be numerous meetings with organizers and emergency organizations in order to "learn from Saturday's experiences".

The walk to the P2 parking lot led through a wooded area and took around 70 minutes.(Bild: Screenshot/Google Maps)

Visitors "elevated" to rescue workers
Dangerous incidents have also been reported to the "NÖ-Krone" newspaper: Waiting areas by the buses had been literally stormed after the long wait, barriers had been ignored. Some people also panicked or collapsed and were then lifted over their heads by other visitors to the emergency services.

People wanted to get onto the highway
The security system apparently failed completely - as Roland G. also confirmed. Police or stewards could only be seen every few hundred meters. In the end, according to other visitors, many dark-clad metal fans even ended up on the unlit highway. Some even wanted to walk onto the highway (!), which had to be completely closed for a short time.

The three-day hip-hop festival "Rolling Loud" is due to take place at the same site at the beginning of July. Once again with around 60,000 people a day.