The organizers of Ultra Music Festival, based in Miami, will be conducting a comprehensive review of its security measures, following the trampling incident that put 28-year-old private security guard Erica Mack in the hospital this past weekend.
Mack suffered a severe brain hemorrhage after a mob of festival crashers without tickets pushed through the gate and trampled over her as they headed into the festival grounds. According to NBC Miami, her status was "slowly improving" as of Monday.
In a press statement, Ultra's organizers said they made additional efforts this year "to continue providing a safe and enjoyable event for our patrons and staff, including a larger security and police presence." They blame the incident on the "criminal acts" of the fans who crashed the gate.
"Each year, arrests and injuries reported at the event have been considerably lower than other similarly sized outdoor events," the statement reads. "However, any incident of this nature is one too many and must be addressed. Consistent with our commitment to improve every year, Ultra is conducting a top-to-bottom review of security procedures and measures to assess where we can add even more security for the event next year. This review will include an assessment with the Miami Police Department of how security can be enhanced immediately outside our gates to prevent a criminal incident of this nature from happening again."
The statement also broke down the additional security and safety measures the festival implemented this year. Nearly 50 more police officers deployed each day compared to last year with extra uniformed and undercover officers (including Homeland Security and DEA officers) patrolling the perimeter and inside the event. The organizers also added that they had erected a "G8," an eight-foot, high-level security fence surrounding the venue.
As for Mack, the organizers said, "The Ultra family hopes for her swift and full recovery."
However, it is unclear whether this investigation will sway Miami mayor Tomás Regalado who wants to kick the festival out of Miami.
