Several attendees of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” tour in Atlanta were injured while trying to leave the show through MARTA.
Nine concertgoers faced injuries during a “stampede” at the Vine City MARTA station, used by thousands to get to and from the concert’s venue. The incident occurred on July 14, the final night of Beyoncé’s four-show stint at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
A spokesperson for MARTA stated that the stampede occurred after a woman on the escalator began screaming and running after spotting a bug.
“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,” a MARTA spokesperson said in a statement.
Her screams triggered more people on the escalator to run and shout, leading to a pile-up of people at the bottom. One woman also recalled fearing she would suffocate under all the people.
“He now is up under someone, I slide up under him, there’s somebody that comes behind me,” shared Amber Anderson. “I feared suffocation.”
Jaylen Black thought she would end her birthday with a memorable concert experience. Instead, she finished the evening at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Unlike others, Black claims that the malfunction of the escalator is more likely to have caused the alleged stampede.
“I woke up from surgery a couple of hours ago. I’m seeing people covering it as some stampede. No, no one was pushing each other. The escalator malfunctioned,” said the recovering woman.
She added, “There was more of a hurry to get down. I want to be very clear: people weren’t pushing each other down the escalator. People were trying to get out of that area with haste.”
Despite her insistence, MARTA and its escalator manufacturer, Schindler, have yet to confirm if the escalator caused the commotion.
“We take the safety of the riding public seriously and are committed to working closely with MARTA, Vine City Station personnel, and local authorities to investigate and determine the cause of the incident fully,“ clarified Schindler in a statement.
”At this time, we have no verified information as to the cause, and it would be inappropriate to speculate.”
MARTA Safety has launched an investigation into the matter.
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