VANCOUVER, BC – A crowd surge during a free Olympic rock concert produced by Live Nation Feb. 16 resulted in the collapse of a front barricade and 19 injuries, nine of which required hospitalization, according to City of Vancouver officials. Most of the injured were treated at the site and released, but two revelers suffered leg fractures and a third victim suffered a knee injury in the mishap, which resulted after part of a 7,000-strong crowd surged up against an outdoor metal barricade, breaking it.
The concert, which was staged at one of two LiveCity Vancouver public venues, was immediately cancelled. The next day, the broken barricade at the Yaletown site was replaced with a new metal crowd control barrier and the outdoor venue was re-opened.
LiveCity Vancouver is a Canadian-funded initiative that invites members of the public to gather for concerts and televised big-screen Olympic events in a free, open-air setting. The crowd surge and barricade mishap occurred shortly after the Canadian rock band, Alexisonfire, began playing at about 10 p.m.
