After Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER concert in Atlanta, confusion turned dangerous when a reported stampede on an escalator left 11 people injured. According to Axios Atlanta on Monday July 14, the incident began when a person started screaming and running, prompting a surge that caused the escalator to temporarily speed up before coming to an abrupt stop. Investigators from MARTA and Schindler are now looking into the malfunction to determine what led to the incident.
One of those injured suffered a broken leg and required emergency surgery. They described the alarming moment by saying, “Then all of a sudden it was free falling to the bottom.”
Get this craziness. MARTA Police on scene indicated that the chaos appeared to have been triggered when someone witnessed a bug, which sent the crowd into panic. Local station WRDW noted that initial reports stated an unidentified individual became frightened by an insect and dramatically ran away, causing others to lose their composure.
A damn bug.
A spokesperson for MARTA explained the unfolding scene to the news outlet, stating, “The initial reports were that a woman was scared of an insect and screamed and ran away from it, and others panicked, not knowing what was happening,” thus providing a glimpse into the chain reaction of events.