Love Parade Tragedy Leads to Blame for Town Mayor

Following Saturday’s tragic stampede at a German music festival, which left 19 concertgoers dead and hundreds more injured, stunned members of the community are attempting to figure out who’s to blame. While everyone from concert organizers to police officers are expected to shoulder some accusations, a prime target is the mayor of Duisburg, the town where the festival was held. The mayor, Adolf Sauerland, is taking heat for pushing to host the Love Parade, as it’s called, yet not adequately preparing for the huge event, which attracted about 1.4 million people. “The mayor was determined to have the Love Parade here in Duisburg,” said a local newspaper editor. “We were the only newspaper that said: ‘No. Stop it. The city is not prepared.’” A single entrance led to the festival—a tunnel in which large crowds eventually smothered the concertgoers.