A 28-year-old private security guard is in "extremely critical condition" from a severe brain hemorrhage after she was trampled by crashers at Ultra Music Festival in Miami last night. According to the Miami Herald, city leaders are calling for an end to the event.
As per their report, Miami police had inspected the perimeter of the event at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami and called for additional fencing at the spot where the guard, Erica Mack, was injured. However, no additional fencing was added.
"A mob of people came and started rushing the gate and started pushing it," Miami Police Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll told the Miami New Times. "She was doing what she was supposed to do, telling them to stop, when they pushed it down and it fell on top of her...They just trampled her."
The fans did not have tickets to the event and were trying to sneak in without paying. "There must have been a whole lot of people. We found her on the ground, screaming in pain." She reportedly had a broken leg and blood was coming out of her ears when the paramedics treated her.
Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado condemned the festival organizers, saying they "acted irresponsibly" by failing to secure the venue. "I think we should not have Ultra next year here," Regalado told the Miami Herald on Saturday. "This incident should never have happened."
The president of Miami's police union, Javier Ortiz, had voiced his concern for a shortage of police officers at Ultra. As the Miami Herald notes, festival organizers pay into a trust, which in turn supplies them with fencing, security guards and uniformed police officers.
"Civilians do not have the training, experience or authority to handle, for the most part, a crowd of intoxicated people who have zero regard for human life," Ortiz said. "The poor woman who was injured was put into a dangerous position, left to fend for herself against an overwhelming crush of people."
The Miami police homicide unit is looking for witnesses to the incident and have arrested 22 people. Of those, 15 were arrest on felony charges, six were arrested on misdemeanor charges and one was arrested for a traffic violation. No one has been charged yet with Mack's trampling.
Last year, Miami police arrested 167 people throughout the festival, mostly for drugs and trespassing. The three-day electronic music event, which is expected to total more than 160,000 patrons, will continue tomorrow.
