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NEIL
TENNANT
has accused ROSKILDE FESTIVAL organisers of being "unbelievably insensitive"
for allowing the event to carry on after eight fans were crushed to death
over the weekend. Following the tragedy on June 29 where eight fans died
in a crowd surge during a performance by Pearl Jam, the festival continued.
At the time
a spokesperson said the festival would continue with "deepest respect" for
the dead, adding "life is stronger than death". However, both the Pet Shop
Boys and Oasis pulled out of the Danish festival, citing safety fears and
their wish to show respect to the dead music fans and families. Speaking
to Radio 1 about the tragedy, Tennant said: "This makes me so angry, because
eight people have died, from four different countries. The youngest of them
was 17. I feel like they have just been brushed under the carpet.
The response
from the organisers was unbelievably insensitive, and their main concern
was that the whole thing just went ahead. "I don't believe that in Britain
that would have happened. I think that, at least, the main stage activities
would have been cancelled.
If you speak
to someone who was at the Roskilde Festival you'll find that there was general
support for Oasis and the Pet Shop Boys' decision not to play this event."
Around 1,200 people attended a 50-minute memorial service in Roskilde cathedral
yesterday to pay their respects to the dead. However, in the aftermath of
the tragedy, the local police chief has appeared to blame the incident on
festival-goers.
Police commissioner
Bendt Runstroem is quoted in a report on www.bbc.co.uk as saying some of
the members of the audience became "over excited", and added: "We can never
give 100% guarantees that there will be no accidents when you have crowds
like this in a festival of this sort and groups of young people who have
drunk too much or taken drugs."
Special Thanks to "captain shorty" for posting this one Into. |
