Agence France-Presse in South Tangerang – The K-pop band NCT 127 were forced to end their first concert in Indonesia early after 30 people fainted in a crush, police said.
Indonesia is still reeling after more than 130 people, including more than 40 children, died in a stadium crush last month – one of the deadliest disasters in football history.
A police spokesperson, Endra Zulpan, said late on Friday that the concert near the capital, Jakarta, had been going for about two hours when fans started surging forward to get closer to the stage.
"Because of it, 30 people fainted. To prevent other incidents, we decided to stop the concert at 9.20pm," Zulpan said, adding that the collapsed fans had recovered.
Just before the crush, the band had been handing out freebies to fans, said Syifa Aulia, a 19-year-old concertgoer. She said fans at the back pushed toward the stage until the barricade fences collapsed.
"We are disappointed by those fans. We were warned to not push each other, even by the NCT 127 members, but they were so selfish. Just for good footage, they ignored other's safety," she said.
Police have allowed a second NCT 127 concert to go ahead on Saturday, but banned distribution of merchandise to fans and required stricter measures to separate fans and performers.
"To make amends [for the crush] and give the best experience, we will add more paramedics and security personnel for the day 2 show," the concert organiser Dyandra Global Edutainment said on Instagram.
One fan, Miftahul Janna, 18, said fans "truly apologise" to the band. "We are sorry because we have made you worry in your first concert in Indonesia. From this incident, we hope we can better comply with the safety regulations and care more about others," she said.
Last weekend, police cancelled the third day of the Berdendang Bergoyang music festival in Jakarta after nearly 30 people fainted due to overcapacity. That same day, more than 150 people were killed in a crowd surge at a Halloween party in Seoul, South Korea.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/05/k-pop-band-nct-127-indonesia-concert-crowd-crush-fain