A dangerous stampede broke out this week at Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour in Atlanta, Georgia, when a young fan became hysterical over a bug.
The concert had ended and large groups of concertgoers began to exit the arena, heading toward the Vine City MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) station on Monday, July 14. A 10-year-old fan spotted a cockroach or “palmetto bug” and began screaming hysterically, setting off chaos in the crowd, according to MARTA police chief Scott Kreher.
Fans, unsure of why other people were screaming, began frantically trying to exit the MARTA station. While trying to leave, fans recorded the escalators jamming and malfunctioning due to the excessive number of people flooding onto them.
Atlanta News First reported that nine people had been injured in the stampede. The outlet spoke to a concertgoer, Amber Anderson, who recalled that when the escalator began to speed up, it left a cluster of people on the ground, causing her to fall on top of others struggling to move.
Many people, hearing screams and seeing others running toward them, joined in—scared there might be a real danger. “I see that people are starting to run at the entrance, which of course when you see somebody running, you probably want to run too,” Anderson said.
One fan was able to record some of the aftermath, showing fans trying to direct others to back up and get off of the escalator.
Of the nine people injured, one person broke their ankle, another left with a sprained ankle, and many left with cuts and bruises. One person refused help from an ambulance and left of their own accord.
Beyoncé has been touring since April, where she had her first concert in Inglewood, California. The last night of her tour is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, July 26, in Paradise, Nevada.
