The mass panic happened when people were pushing through an overcrowded tunnel, which lead to the Love Parade festival grounds - it was the lone entrance to the music festival with its 1.4 million visitors. In panic, revelers tried to climb up steep staircases, and metal barricades; many of them fell off and onto the people below, which triggered the stampede.
While German Prosecutors opened an investigation into the causes of the deadly tragedy, the country remains in deep shock. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "The young people came to celebrate and instead there are dead and injured. I am horrified by the suffering and the pain." The mayor of Duisburg, Adolf Sauerland, said on Sunday, "I don't find words for the depth of my sorrow. This accident is so horrifying that you cannot describe it."
Source:gogermany.about.com
