Cornwall Council launches investigation following crowd crush at Boardmasters festival
The local authority has announced a "public protection" probe after seven people were hospitalised after attending the Newquay-based festival
Cornwall Council has launched an investigation into Boardmasters festival following a crowd crush that resulted in seven attendees being hospitalised.
In a statement released last week (August 12), Cornwall Council said it has launched a "public protection" investigation into the festival — which took place last weekend at Watergate Bay, Newquay from August 7-11.
The incident, which occurred last Friday (August 9), had seen "surges" at the Point Stage ahead of Sammy Virji's headline set — which had been scheduled to go ahead at 8:30PM, but was eventually cancelled.
An attendee reported to The Times that by 08:00PM there had been "no room at all" at The Point Stage, and crowd members began to fall causing a "domino effect."
Devon and Cornwall Police later released a statement confirming that seven people had been taken to hospital for "minor injuries" for a "precautionary examination."
A spokesperson for Cornwall Council told the BBC that it is "currently investigating the incident," and "cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing."
"The council’s public protection service is currently investigating the incident that took place at the Boardmasters Festival on Friday, August 9. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing."
The festival's capacity had reportedly been upped this year to 58,000 from 53,000; 5,000 more attendees than there were at last year’s event.
In a statement seen by Cornwall Live, Boardmasters said: "Following the isolated incident on Friday night - the crowd collapse at The Point stage - when seven festivalgoers were transferred to hospital from the festival for minor injuries, the event has continued normally."
"All necessary safety measures are in place, as reviewed and agreed with our partner agencies, and we are looking forward to a great finale to this year's festival."
"We'd like to thank the 58,000 people who have joined us at Boardmasters this year and remind them that advice for leaving the event safely tonight and tomorrow is available from our teams on site and on our social media channels."
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter